Max Ketchum
Collegiate Starleague Smash Director
March 12, 2014 was a day of game-changing news for Super Smash Bros. fans. Major League Gaming (MLG) announced that Nintendo had given permission for Super Smash Bros. Melee, their 2001 GameCube hit, to be a featured title at MLG Anaheim 2014. Melee’s return at Anaheim marks its first appearance at MLG since 2006. (Edit: MLG supported Melee for a grassroots series in 2007, but the game was not added to the official 2007 Circuit. Credit to VGBC | Hax for the tip) Its players and followers couldn’t be happier--this marks another milestone in what has been an amazing era for Melee’s tournament life, studded with multiple major events and an eye-opening documentary that exposed an underground paradise to the common YouTube user.
Melee’s addition to MLG follows a nine-event international qualifier circuit and coincides with its return to EVO 2014 after a successful tournament last summer. This is especially awesome because neither MLG nor EVO nor the competitive Smash community has enjoyed any sort of a relationship with Nintendo before, and now the Big N is starting to hop on board.
The news wasn’t all good for fans of the Super Smash Bros. series, though. Brawl, the 2008 Wii sequel to Melee, was not announced as a part of the tournament at Anaheim. Despite Brawl’s appearance at almost all of the qualifier events, its presence on the 2010 MLG Pro Circuit, and MLG organizing equipment and funding for a Brawl tournament at Anaheim, it was not approved by Nintendo. Details are scarce at best, sketchy at worst. Neither Nintendo nor MLG has issued an official statement explaining the game’s disallowance. It is widely speculated that the problem lies entirely in Nintendo’s hands and that MLG actively wanted Brawl to be present at Anaheim, even offering to run the tournament entirely off-stream to avoid any licensing issues.
Super Smash Bros. Brawl on the stage at MLG Raleigh 2010
MLG - Only Melee
An important question sticks out--why would Nintendo give the green light to Melee, but not Brawl? Both games have thriving tournament communities and sold millions of copies. With the release of Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS on the horizon, any stream time for a Smash game means free advertising.
Discussing Melee’s recent victories, Nintendo said in a recent interview with Polygon “The fact that Super Smash Bros. Melee is being used to help determine champion status for competitive gamers so many years after it was released is a testament to the strong fan passion for both this individual game and the Super Smash Bros. franchise overall.” Why doesn’t this apply to Brawl!? The game has been out for six years and people still regularly host and attend tournaments for it, often right alongside Melee. Some people have projected the unlikely possibility that Sonic the Hedgehog or Solid Snake’s presence in Brawl is why Nintendo had to uniquely exclude it, but we cannot be sure without a statement.
This situation is extremely reminiscent of what happened last summer with Melee at EVO 2013--after donating over $95,000 to breast cancer research to earn a spot on the EVO lineup, the Melee tournament was almost jeopardized when Nintendo told EVO staff it couldn’t be featured on stream. Instantly, players and fans of all Smash games got to work with Tweeting hashtags like “#FreeMelee” or “#FreeSmash,” and calling Nintendo’s customer service hotlines to voice their discontent. Within a day, Nintendo reversed their decision, and Melee went on to break the record for fighting game stream viewership (before it was re-broken by Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 shortly after) at EVO.
Mango after a thrilling victory over Armada at EVO 2013
A Movement Rises
Immediately upon receiving the news about Brawl at Anaheim, the community jumped into action again. The hash tag “#FreeSSBB” was born. A podcast and the first internationally unifying Brawl Facebook group were created on the spot. Almost three weeks later, Nintendo and MLG have still not responded. The next course of action is unclear, but many members of the competitive community have continued trying to reach them by Tweeting the same hashtag, “#FreeSSBB,” @NintendoAmerica and @MLG.
One of the most important steps in achieving some sort of progress with corporate entities is to get as many people as possible involved in the movement. Fans interested in supporting the cause should use #FreeSSBB and Tweet about the movement. Melee has already proven that fans can make change happen, even with big companies like Nintendo. Brawl sold over 11 million copies worldwide, so the supporters are out there - it’s just a matter of reaching them and getting them to voice their opinions.
Being part of MLG is no joke. Presence at a major league event adds an air of dignity and legitimacy to a game. The Brawl community is full of passionate individuals who have worked hard at honing their craft and would love to bring it to the grand MLG stage. Tons of fans at home would love to watch the tournament live online. Many more would probably love the idea of a major league Smash tournament,but because of a shortage of events like MLG, they aren’t even aware of the existence of such a thing.
Max "juice.Doom" Krchmar is a Super Smash Bros. player, commentator, and event organizer in the Greater New York Area. Find him on most Saturdays at tournaments, petting his cats at any other time, or on Twitter @juiceDoom.
Melee’s addition to MLG follows a nine-event international qualifier circuit and coincides with its return to EVO 2014 after a successful tournament last summer. This is especially awesome because neither MLG nor EVO nor the competitive Smash community has enjoyed any sort of a relationship with Nintendo before, and now the Big N is starting to hop on board.
The news wasn’t all good for fans of the Super Smash Bros. series, though. Brawl, the 2008 Wii sequel to Melee, was not announced as a part of the tournament at Anaheim. Despite Brawl’s appearance at almost all of the qualifier events, its presence on the 2010 MLG Pro Circuit, and MLG organizing equipment and funding for a Brawl tournament at Anaheim, it was not approved by Nintendo. Details are scarce at best, sketchy at worst. Neither Nintendo nor MLG has issued an official statement explaining the game’s disallowance. It is widely speculated that the problem lies entirely in Nintendo’s hands and that MLG actively wanted Brawl to be present at Anaheim, even offering to run the tournament entirely off-stream to avoid any licensing issues.
Super Smash Bros. Brawl on the stage at MLG Raleigh 2010
MLG - Only Melee
An important question sticks out--why would Nintendo give the green light to Melee, but not Brawl? Both games have thriving tournament communities and sold millions of copies. With the release of Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS on the horizon, any stream time for a Smash game means free advertising.
Discussing Melee’s recent victories, Nintendo said in a recent interview with Polygon “The fact that Super Smash Bros. Melee is being used to help determine champion status for competitive gamers so many years after it was released is a testament to the strong fan passion for both this individual game and the Super Smash Bros. franchise overall.” Why doesn’t this apply to Brawl!? The game has been out for six years and people still regularly host and attend tournaments for it, often right alongside Melee. Some people have projected the unlikely possibility that Sonic the Hedgehog or Solid Snake’s presence in Brawl is why Nintendo had to uniquely exclude it, but we cannot be sure without a statement.
This situation is extremely reminiscent of what happened last summer with Melee at EVO 2013--after donating over $95,000 to breast cancer research to earn a spot on the EVO lineup, the Melee tournament was almost jeopardized when Nintendo told EVO staff it couldn’t be featured on stream. Instantly, players and fans of all Smash games got to work with Tweeting hashtags like “#FreeMelee” or “#FreeSmash,” and calling Nintendo’s customer service hotlines to voice their discontent. Within a day, Nintendo reversed their decision, and Melee went on to break the record for fighting game stream viewership (before it was re-broken by Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 shortly after) at EVO.
Mango after a thrilling victory over Armada at EVO 2013
A Movement Rises
Immediately upon receiving the news about Brawl at Anaheim, the community jumped into action again. The hash tag “#FreeSSBB” was born. A podcast and the first internationally unifying Brawl Facebook group were created on the spot. Almost three weeks later, Nintendo and MLG have still not responded. The next course of action is unclear, but many members of the competitive community have continued trying to reach them by Tweeting the same hashtag, “#FreeSSBB,” @NintendoAmerica and @MLG.
One of the most important steps in achieving some sort of progress with corporate entities is to get as many people as possible involved in the movement. Fans interested in supporting the cause should use #FreeSSBB and Tweet about the movement. Melee has already proven that fans can make change happen, even with big companies like Nintendo. Brawl sold over 11 million copies worldwide, so the supporters are out there - it’s just a matter of reaching them and getting them to voice their opinions.
Being part of MLG is no joke. Presence at a major league event adds an air of dignity and legitimacy to a game. The Brawl community is full of passionate individuals who have worked hard at honing their craft and would love to bring it to the grand MLG stage. Tons of fans at home would love to watch the tournament live online. Many more would probably love the idea of a major league Smash tournament,but because of a shortage of events like MLG, they aren’t even aware of the existence of such a thing.
Max "juice.Doom" Krchmar is a Super Smash Bros. player, commentator, and event organizer in the Greater New York Area. Find him on most Saturdays at tournaments, petting his cats at any other time, or on Twitter @juiceDoom.
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