Nintendo forces Evo 2013 to cancel Smash streaming 3 days before the tournament.

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**Fafnir**

UPDATE: After some spirited campaigning by concerned videogame fans everywhere, it looks like Nintendo buckled, and is allowing streams at Evo once more. (I'd try to find a good link, but all my sources are overflowing right now)

That said, I feel that the damage against Nintendo's reputation has already been done, similarly to Microsoft's situation with the Xbone.

http://www.polygon.com/2013/7/9/4508826/super-smash-bros-melee-pulled-from-evo-livestream-nintendo

Organizers of the Evo 2013 fighting game championships have pulled back on plans to livestream Nintendo's Super Smash Bros. Melee from this weekend's event, saying Nintendo of America denied the tournament holders permission to broadcast the game online.

"Regrettably, we've just been informed by Nintendo of America Inc. that we do not have permission to broadcast Super Smash Bros. Melee for Evo 2013," wrote Evo co-founder Tom "inkblot" Cannon on Shoryuken.com.

The removal of Melee from the preeminent fighting game tournament's livestreaming schedule has resulted in a change in Evo's previously announced programming plans. Replacing Super Smash Bros. Melee on the Twitch-hosted livestream will be "a mix" of Persona 4 Arena and King of Fighters 13, according to Cannon.

A detailed viewing guide recently posted to Shoryuken contains a full rundown on how to watch the three-day tournament online.

Super Smash Bros. Melee was added to this year's Evo fighting game championships as part of a fan-funded donation drive, with proceeds going toward breast cancer research. Melee was confirmed as Evo's eighth featured fighting game after fans raised more than $94,000 in a competitive fundraising drive.

When contacted, Tom Cannon declined to comment further on the situation regarding Melee streaming plans. Polygon has reached out to Nintendo of America seeking comment and clarification on the matter.

Evo 2013 will be held at the Paris Las Vegas Hotel and Casino from July 12 to 14.

This year's tournament will feature eight games in addition to Melee: Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Super Street Fighter 4 Arcade Edition Ver. 2012, Tekken Tag Tournament 2, Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter X Tekken 2013 Edition, The King of Fighters 13 and Persona 4 Arena.

As someone who's been a fan of Nintendo for pretty much his entire life, this is awful. I can no longer continue to support them as a company, should they continue this route, and I'd strongly suggest no one else does either.

If the idea of this offends you, you can contact Nintendo with your feedback concerning this specific issue at the following links:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/NintendoAmerica
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Nintendo
Webform: http://www.nintendo.com/consumer/webform/
Online Petition: https://www.change.org/petitions/nintendo-of-america-allow-super-smash-bros-melee-to-be-streamed-at-evo-2013-2#share

**Necroshea**

I'm confused. Reading that link it sounds like they pulled the tourny completely, but the quoted bit just makes it sound like it won't be aired.

In any case, I don't see the logic in this at all.

**Fafnir**

Most of the audience for these big tournaments is online. Remember, these are international events (I know some people up here in Canada that are flying down to Vegas for it).

By stopping the stream, Nintendo has made footage of the tournament largely unavailable to the majority of the Smash community, as well as cut off all of the revenue that Evo would have received from showing it. It also means that other Smash tournaments, as well as other game tournaments using Nintendo products, also run the considerable risk of being blocked. They've effectively blacklisted all of their products from streamers.

Essentially, the tournament itself isn't cancelled, but with 99.9% of the audience blocked out from actually watching it, it might as well be. And by taking this position so soon before the tournament actually starts, it's not like the guys running Evo can run a different game in it's place. The optimal solution would be to switch in Skullgirls for the spot, since it came second in the race, and badly needs the exposure in the first place, but it's too late now.

It's also particularly insulting when you consider that fans raised almost $100,000 for breast cancer research in order to get Melee into Evo at the first place.

**Super Ready**

Two things that need clarifying - one more of a question, really. That question is - was permission sought from Nintendo to broadcast to begin with? Charity or not, they still have to check, and if they didn't check first then Nintendo are well within their rights to demand it not be aired, bad PR notwithstanding. It would also make the point about timing moot as they may well have not known beforehand.

The second point is that this action was taken by Nintendo *of America*. A very different crew from Nintendo's Japan headquarters, who are perhaps unlikely to become involved but may well not be happy with the decision made if they do.

**Monster Rain**

Honestly, this looks like a case of EVO bungling their responsibility to get their proper permissions while organizing event.

This victim routine gives me a lower opinion of them than Nintendo.

**Fafnir**

Super Ready wrote:
Two things that need clarifying - one more of a question, really. That question is - was permission sought from Nintendo to broadcast to begin with? Charity or not, they still have to check, and if they didn't check first then Nintendo are well within their rights to demand it not be aired, bad PR notwithstanding. It would also make the point about timing moot as they may well have not known beforehand.

Considering how most livestreams don't tend to ask for permission to stream gameplay (I'd imagine it would fall somewhere under a fair use debate, but that's not for here or now), and how this has rarely, if ever been an issue for Evo (in fact, Capcom is actually a sponsor for Evo), I doubt it even seemed like an issue at all until now. Not to mention that Smash tournaments have been streamed for years without issue.

That said, with the announcement made months ago, the least Nintendo could do is drop this bombshell then. Regardless of your beliefs concerning IP rights, exposure, or commitment to fans, the PR here is awful.

**Necroshea**

Fafnir wrote:
the PR here is awful.

As far as I know, nintendo really needs some good pr these days.

**RiTides**

Agreed, Necro... Nintendo is in danger of becoming like Sega in the 90s at the rate they are going.

**Fafnir**

UPDATE: After some campaigning by concerned videogame fans everywhere, it looks like Nintendo buckled, and is allowing streams at Evo once more.

That said, I feel that the damage against Nintendo's reputation has already been done, similarly to Microsoft's situation with the Xbone.

**H.B.M.C.**

Nintendo has a weird thing about streaming videos. Remember a month or so back they struck a deal with YouTube over advertising revenue for user videos that showed off Nintendo games?

I guess Nintendo thinks that if they can’t beat Sony and Microsoft in the console wars then they can beat EA and ActiBlizzard in the “who’s the biggest witch” awards.

**Melissia**

Seems like Sony is the only one that 's not doing its best to feth its reputation over before the next generation of consoles.

**Medium of Death**

Why is Super Smash Bros. being played at EVO?

It's hardly a fighting game known for balance or depth.

**Madcat87**

Medium of Death wrote:
Why is Super Smash Bros. being played at EVO?

It's hardly a fighting game known for balance or depth.

Because of this.

https://www.wepay.com/donations/243970321

**Fafnir**

Medium of Death wrote:
Why is Super Smash Bros. being played at EVO?

It's hardly a fighting game known for balance or depth.

Because despite some tragically misinformed opinions, Melee actually happens to be one of the most technically complex and deep fighters out there.

There's a very good reason why it's community has managed to stay so strong for well over a decade, how it's managed to come together to get to Evo after all this time, and how it managed to come together again to make sure it won't be shut down.

**Daba**

The Smash Bros guy really hates that it became competitive around melee, which is why they added 'tripping' and other similar mechanics to Brawl.

Thus Melee is the defacto tournament standard still.

(I prefer original though, with pacing and style though my main, Marth, is not in that game and I play Fox there).

**Sigvatr**

Melissia wrote:
Seems like Sony is the only one that 's not doing its best to feth its reputation over before the next generation of consoles.

Yep. Still thinking about getting a Wii U though...it's the best for "Hey, you're coming over? Let's play some Wii!" console with SSB, Mario Kart, Mario Party and Nintendoland etc. All other consoles are useless as they are mini-PCs.

**Squigsquasher**

Super Ready wrote:

The second point is that this action was taken by Nintendo *of America*. A very different crew from Nintendo's Japan headquarters, who are perhaps unlikely to become involved but may well not be happy with the decision made if they do.

QFT. This is the same reason that older Nintendo games were so heavily censored-Nintendo of America made the changes to conform to what they saw as American standards. Miyamoto and friends most likely have nothing to do with this decision.

And why on Earth are they still using Melee? The game is, what, over 10 years old now? Considering there's a new SSB coming out soon I'd wait until that is released, but at the very least use the latest game in the series.

**Daba**

Squigsquasher wrote:
Super Ready wrote:

The second point is that this action was taken by Nintendo *of America*. A very different crew from Nintendo's Japan headquarters, who are perhaps unlikely to become involved but may well not be happy with the decision made if they do.

QFT. This is the same reason that older Nintendo games were so heavily censored-Nintendo of America made the changes to conform to what they saw as American standards. Miyamoto and friends most likely have nothing to do with this decision.

And why on Earth are they still using Melee? The game is, what, over 10 years old now? Considering there's a new SSB coming out soon I'd wait until that is released, but at the very least use the latest game in the series.

Melee is the fan favourite for competition. It's like how they used to play Super Street Fighter II Turbo until only 5 years back (and it still gets some minor tournaments occasionally at EVO too).

**Fafnir**

Squigsquasher wrote:
Super Ready wrote:

The second point is that this action was taken by Nintendo *of America*. A very different crew from Nintendo's Japan headquarters, who are perhaps unlikely to become involved but may well not be happy with the decision made if they do.

QFT. This is the same reason that older Nintendo games were so heavily censored-Nintendo of America made the changes to conform to what they saw as American standards. Miyamoto and friends most likely have nothing to do with this decision.

And why on Earth are they still using Melee? The game is, what, over 10 years old now? Considering there's a new SSB coming out soon I'd wait until that is released, but at the very least use the latest game in the series.

Because Melee is the better game by far.

**Squigsquasher**

Fafnir wrote:
Squigsquasher wrote:
Super Ready wrote:

The second point is that this action was taken by Nintendo *of America*. A very different crew from Nintendo's Japan headquarters, who are perhaps unlikely to become involved but may well not be happy with the decision made if they do.

QFT. This is the same reason that older Nintendo games were so heavily censored-Nintendo of America made the changes to conform to what they saw as American standards. Miyamoto and friends most likely have nothing to do with this decision.

And why on Earth are they still using Melee? The game is, what, over 10 years old now? Considering there's a new SSB coming out soon I'd wait until that is released, but at the very least use the latest game in the series.

Because Melee is the better game by far.

...How so?

I've heard lots of people saying "ZOMG MELEE IS SO MUCH BETTER THAN BRAWL" but very few reasons as to why.

**Melissia**

Frankly, I find Brawl to be far better than Melee, but apparently I'm a heretic.

**Fafnir**

Squigsquasher wrote:
Fafnir wrote:
Squigsquasher wrote:
Super Ready wrote:

The second point is that this action was taken by Nintendo *of America*. A very different crew from Nintendo's Japan headquarters, who are perhaps unlikely to become involved but may well not be happy with the decision made if they do.

QFT. This is the same reason that older Nintendo games were so heavily censored-Nintendo of America made the changes to conform to what they saw as American standards. Miyamoto and friends most likely have nothing to do with this decision.

And why on Earth are they still using Melee? The game is, what, over 10 years old now? Considering there's a new SSB coming out soon I'd wait until that is released, but at the very least use the latest game in the series.

Because Melee is the better game by far.

...How so?

I've heard lots of people saying "ZOMG MELEE IS SO MUCH BETTER THAN BRAWL" but very few reasons as to why.

Melee has way more technical and tactical depth, there's no tripping, legitimate combos exist, it's much less passive/defensive/boring, it's faster, it's not entirely dominated by a single character.

Even Sakurai, the director of all three Smash games, has said that Melee was the best of the bunch.

**Sigvatr**

Brawl had Metaknight.

'nuff said.

Oh and btw, Nintendo allowed it to be played again.

**Cheesecat**

Fafnir wrote:

Melee has way more technical and tactical depth, there's no tripping, legitimate combos exist, it's much less passive/defensive/boring, it's faster, it's not entirely dominated by a single character.

Even Sakurai, the director of all three Smash games, has said that Melee was the best of the bunch.

Yeah, melee is a faster game (which I like) and tripping has to be one of the worst ideas ever to be introduced in the series that being said I'm a sucker for new content so I like Brawl more.

**Fafnir**

Point is, there's a good reason why Melee and its competitive community managed to stick around for 12 years, while Brawl's community started to decline only a couple years after its release.

**Melissia**

Fafnir wrote:
Point is, there's a good reason why Melee and its competitive community managed to stick around for 12 years

Sheer pig-headedness and a refusal to accept anything new, like 99% of competitive players.

**Madcat87**

Squigsquasher wrote:
And why on Earth are they still using Melee? The game is, what, over 10 years old now? Considering there's a new SSB coming out soon I'd wait until that is released, but at the very least use the latest game in the series.

Up until last year Starcraft Brood War was still played at large tournaments in Korea and other places around the world. Quake 3 arena and CS1.6 while not as popular as other games are still played at international tournaments.

Just because a game is old doesn't mean it isn't worth playing competively. Quite often as shown with Brawl the newer games remove the mechanics that made the game good for competive play in the first place and add features that de-emphasize competitive play.

**Fafnir**

Melissia wrote:
Fafnir wrote:
Point is, there's a good reason why Melee and its competitive community managed to stick around for 12 years
Sheer pig-headedness and a refusal to accept anything new, like 99% of competitive players.

Someone's obviously got no idea what they're talking about. At all. But it's okay, you can still make pig-headed assumptions.

**Melissia**

Fafnir wrote:
Someone's obviously got no idea what they're talking about

That's cute of you to say that, but this is the same competitive crowd that spawned the "no items, fox only, final destination" meme because of how insanely boring they are.

**Fafnir**

That generalization was started by people who have no idea how the competitive environment actually operates.

Melee's competitive roster is over 10 characters large. The top player in the world plays Peach. There are notable tournament players who use characters as low on the tier list as Pikachu (seriously, Axe is a boss). And Fox's position as top tier is arguable, as Falco vies for that spot these days.

Final Destination is definitely not the only stage allowed. There are six tournament legal stages in the current standard competitive ruleset, including Pokemon Stadium, which is counterpick. These stages are picked for their qualities as "neutral" stages, meaning they won't push the match too far in either player's favour (that said, they do have some advantages, such as Falco/C.Falcon doing well in Final Destination, while Peach would do well on Fountain of Dreams and Dreamland).
That said, the Gentleman's rule is also in place, which stipulates that, so long as both players should agree on it beforehand, any stage on the list may be played.

And as for items, that is done to reduce the influence of random factors on competitive play, and to also make it so that the game doesn't favour fast, mobile characters more than it already does. Personally, I really don't like items anyway, so it doesn't bother me.

Competitive smash matches played by competent players are hardly boring. Considering what the players are capable of, it's a lot more interesting than a pokeball slugfest. I suggest you learn about what you're talking about before you make any more criticisms.