Traditionally, it is celebrated one year a year. Of course that would not be a problem Super Smash Bros. Ultimate & # 39; s have a one-year anniversary; with a few months to spare, Nintendo's mascot fighting game is already underway the best selling video game wrestling each time.
Nintendo sold many copies of Smash Bros. Ultimate (15.71 million) in nine months rather than Street Fighter II (15.5 million) and its innumerable points have sold more 28 years. Ultimate sold more copies than Nintendo sold Wii U consoles on that machine completely life time in the market. Ultimate would almost certainly make fun of the 1: 3 adoption rate among people who are Nintendo switch owners.
So anyway, we get it – you all love playing with Smash Bros. A too much. But today, let's focus on all of your 15.71 million. Instead, we wanted to see what & # 39; s the best & # 39; how they feel about the game after having a year of stability in their own way & # 39; Everyone-here & # 39 ;.
How do Smash's professional players feel about Ultimate, one year later?
Last year, Nintendo Life spoke with a few selected players, tournament organizers and eSports publishers to find out how they were getting ready for the first Nintendo fighting game that was not installed at the time. To mark one year of Ultimate racing, we've gone back to many of those same players (and many new ones) and followed a number of real questions, including their reactions to Nintendo's support in their area, who they think are the best player, and the best characters to enter in 2020.
Here's what they say.
How do pros play Smash?
Guess? Broadcasters love to stream them smash Bros. Ultimate.
Prior to the release of Ultimate, it was a simple prediction that the streaming and content creation would both collect this first Smash Bros. game. released in the modern era of the internet. The real question is, How well did streaming and creating the content fit together?
Well, the look is not bad from the top. But one year, in a highly competitive society you still have a good number of rides, if you judge it by other eSport or gaming standards.
Finally, we used Twitch followers as a metric to see how it was done Smash for the Wii U (Smash 4) compared to its contemporaries, and at that rate – at least on Twitch – Smash Ultimate is about a warrior king.
Here are follower stats for the top ten relevant wrestling titles on Twitch, from this edition:
- Super Smash Bros. Finally – 1,6 million
- Dragon Ball FighterZ – 1,6 million
- Street Fighter V – 1,4 million
- Tekken 7 – 1,2 million
- Super Smash Bros. Melee – 1 million
- Death of Combat 11 – $ 682k
- Injustice 2 – 535k
- EA Sports UFC 3 – 361k
- Skip Power – 113k
- Soul Calibur VI – 96k
(Note that while Dragon Ball FighterZ and Ultimate share a high number of fans, Ultimate usually releases it when it comes to a limited number of broadcasts, and may have pulled it all off, at least if there are any Super Smash Bros. Melee fans on this list are any indication .)
Even though these are nowhere near the numbers of similar games Fortnite (50.3 million), Beast-Strike: Go (19.3 million), or League of Legends ($ 22,2 million), it's clear that the general public has a taste for Ultimate, pushing the game beyond what Smash 4 has achieved in a very short period of time. This is in no small part due to the large switchch installation base. "You can go on Twitch anytime and see a few smashers with 100-plus viewers in the stream, sometimes over 1,000. Most people use their Twitter twice, or even three times," says Samuel "Dabuz" Buzby on Nintendo Life about and Ultimate's accomplishments.
Smash is enjoying a good presence on YouTube as well, where most of the top competitors enjoy subscription prices starting between 100-200k in the end. Not bad!
Notable, with the biggest exception, is Gonzalo “ZeRo” Barrios, Smash 4's best single player today who enjoys 819k subscribers, despite his firm's decision to compete in technology. The fact that he has achieved success without competition highlights the glittering change in how the benefits play out for Smash since the release of Ultimate.
Smash players are no longer in the business of advancing to the level of play. They've made great strides in hosting DLC reaction videos, character highlights, playing non-smash games, and just plain memorabilia. This is where the ad revenue is, and now it competes channels focused on non-smash Bros. who posted about Smash Bros. on the side. Perennial Smash contestant Jason “Mew2King” Zimmerman agrees with this change in philosophy. "If, say, Mr. Game & Watch wins a great tournament or runs very well … it would be a good idea to look at that character, research it, and make a video out of it." He adds, "In (for the release of the game, many people want to create content like World of Light or other single player modes… I personally made the World of Light without using Spirit to make it challenging and fun."
The 23-year-old "ZeRo" Barrios is very successful in this new way one year on Ultimate, Facebook recently signed him to a streaming agreement alone.
And it seems to work well.
And this is a road that will continue to be taken, because headline players such as "ZeRo", have joined in "whpping" two The top competitions in the finals so far, they have realized precisely that they can actually make a huge amount of money to spread to watch tournament than their strength to play in the race. (Barrios himself did not respond to comment.)
And that brings us to the next big article about the Smash pro incident one year in.
Where Is the Money?
In fact every single person The interviewer for this segment brought the same idea without provocation: the first year of Smash Ultimate did very little to change the smallest pots of Super Smash Bros. competitions.
esportsearnings.com lists Smash Ultimate on $ 1,089,813.75 revenues come from the top tournaments in 2019. Sounds like a lot, doesn't it? Not at all. That total is well suited for the 55-plus spot, despite nearly 1,000 competitions and thousands of registered players, which ticks some topics. If you click to see this list yourself, you would be shocked to see other decades-old articles bring in a lot of money for a fraction of the mindset.
"The payment for Smash Ultimate is a real shame," said Juan "Hungrybox" DeBiedma at Nintendo Life, the lead actor of Super Smash Bros. Melee on earth. “It's unfortunate how little money the top players make to compete at events compared to what the game shows on social media. It's a pity. This needs to change. ”
Some players are quick to count some improvements over the pools from the previous games of the series, though. "The payouts in the tournament were better than Smash 4 … but I still think it's worse compared to other fighting games," tells Leonardo "MKLeo" Lopez Perez, the top-ranked player in Ultimate for one year. "A lot of people do more than I did in 14 years, winning or topping one event," laments Zimmerman.
So, things are better than poor financial support Smash 64, Melee (back then), no A nap. But money is not great.
If there's any credit for tossing Nintendo's way around how it solved this problem, here it is: after Ultimate, the company knows and is more involved in the gaming scene today than anywhere else. Runs a Twitter's official eSports account where it screams game highlights from top players in many games. Put it up occasionally competitions online the United States, Europe and Japan. Nintendo is holding a brief, competitive event to coincide with the E3 expo's arena, despite the mixed results. And to -an-near-but-yet-until now The department, Nintendo is the official sponsor of the game's biggest fighting games, including the flagship fighting game series against EVO. This year in fact, it is Ultimate that has broken the regular EVO watch records with 279,000 people coming in to watch the final set.
But most of all those things, especially the part where the big, red logo of the Nintendo logo is officially distributed on 279,000 monitors, tablets and smartphones, should not be mistaken as full support. Good sales. And no surprise, Ultimate's release didn't help the birth equivalent of The Capcom Cup, with its $ 250,000 prize ticket, not to mention the Starsters World Championship Series at $ 600,000 or the Fortnite World Cup in the country for $ 30 million.
And even though they are not scared, the benefits are still devastating.
"Only the top (players) earn enough money at events to participate more," Buzby explained. Buzby describes the breadth of the 7-13th floor, not to mention 32 or so, as worthless. "This is where you break or lose money for events." Thinking of going out there to try it yourself? Yes, it is very difficult to make the top 16 even in a competition of 50 participants, let alone a hundred or thousands of participants. Most of the interviewees suggested that by the year 2019, the only way to become a "professional Smash player" is by doing content and sponsorship, not by solitude.
Do the sponsorship opportunities pick up any slack? In a sponsorship article, Victoria “VikkiKitty” Pérez, publisher specializing in various Smash Bros. events. and events, see increased excitement. "We have Cloud9, TSM, Liquid, NRG, e United and many other talented players joining the big orgs." This has expanded into the Melee area, although Smash players are at higher risk compared to broadcasters that can be supported by traditional PC multiplayer and controllers.
However regardless of what they had in hand or wearing their shirts, the skill level needed to be watched by more than half a million people, so sponsorships, always high. Sponsored or not, these smashers bring in tons of ad revenue. It's not a success Nintendo wants to fund, unlike other gaming companies.
"The only company that doesn't invest in pot bonuses, or can do so easily," emphasizes "Hungrybox" DeBiedma.
One year on, little has changed since the past about Smash's ongoing professional prospects, which speak to tradition.
Is Gameplay Good?
A complete gameplay of it is seen as a positive influence by the fruits.
This year has seen this latest Smash game develop in very similar ways to its predecessor, so all its development has not been easily felt by many viewers. But its subtle clues to the realization of its location and internal accuracy have been widely heard and appreciated by the pro community.
"It's been a year since Smash Ultimate came out and I do not feel disappointed, this is the best game in my opinion," said MKLeo Lopez Perez.
"I absolutely loved the game both as an editor, a player, and a follower," said Bassem "Bear" Dahdouh, Esports Manager Arena Las Vegas and Genesis co-producer, EVO, and more. “I enjoy the large number of characters that are part of the program and the high-quality play that can be watched among professional players. The game exceeded my expectations. ”
Dahdouh adds that he also appreciates the change in the game's performance, not just its gameplay. "In the context of an organization, it is very easy to handle game events, given the nature of the game's compatible scenarios in many ways to ensure that all characters are opened when a number of sets are required."
With (mostly) very little cosmetic effects here and there, such as sensible prospects for additional modes or adjustments to the Hero's character by making his menu on the screen compatible with all languages, everyone interviewed agreed that Smash's meat was ultimately not just an acceptable competitive game, but one.
And in case you're wondering, of course, all the benefits are that they use the GameCube controller – only.
What is Online Mode?
If there is one major complaint that the benefits are in respect of a One-Year End to Funding, they are expressed clearly and clearly: internet performance needs to be improved.
"This is the fastest speed with Ultimate," begins "Dabuz" Buzby, "It's difficult to use on the Internet because the delay in native installations in Ultimate, as well as slight delays in netplay installation, ruins and skews tier listings I have a really good internet connection and even if I play someone who has a good internet connection next to me, it's very different (rather than local gaming). ”About“ VikkiKitty ”Perez,“ It is very common to get into players with an unstable internet connection, which allows them to fool themselves succeed to other farms. ”
In addition to complaints of a lack of traditional servers and hence a lack of robustness, there were some issues with the functionality of the online mode, too.
Buzby adds, "The lack of a true position is slow, the GSP is not a good fit, and I wish there were more ways to match, such as items, categories & # 39; crazy & # 39; only, (free of all), etc., instead. that you set your own rules and hope you get a game with it. And since we're only listed games or playgrounds, there's no fun mode, something Smash 4 had. "
What's the Best Condition?
Do you read this article only to find out which character will help you beat all your friends?
Yes, Pro Smash players aren't there indeed you are sure who the best character is, if such a thing could happen within the 75 list. But they have a great idea that can help you.
The most common answers we heard when asking for the best character were Joker, Pikachu, and Peach. Some of the other characters that have been drawn most often include Snake, Palutena, Zero Suit Samus, and the new Terry Bogard.
Who made "MKLeo" Lopez Perez, the Ultimate Ultimate actor who plays the Joker, feel like the best character?
“I personally think Pikachu and Peach are the best characters. I remember that I thought Link was the best … so I'd say my opinion and metagame had changed dramatically since the beginning. "
This speaks to the positive nature of Smash Ultimate and the character balance. The game has seen no fewer than 13 episodes, and it's also nearing the farthest of the fifth downloadable character.
"Nintendo's ports have continued to improve compared to any other fighting game or eSport – you stay half forward, backwards." Explains Kyle "Thinkaman" Brockman, Smashboards president and meta-contributor.
"Patch 3.1 was very noteworthy – the development team gave a modest five-character character, which was the top five characters according to the views of the included player at the time (ie, Wolf, Pichu, Peach, Olimar, and Lucina). , but now it's more in line with the other main characters. ”In this way, he describes Nintendo's approach as responsive, but slow but steady." They focused on providing sets of medium size buffs to six or more characters at a time. We have often seen a small but obvious jump in the performance of the tournament in this regard, but there is nothing to overcome. ”
The fact that Nintendo is adapting characters to account for the actual effects of the tournament is a revelation to many gamers who used to mimic the changes of seemingly random characters in previous Smash games. And the fact that Ultimate has done such a good job in terms of such a long list frankly, the feat has never been done in a fighting game before it.
“Without 75 different coins – 75 chances to earn the balance – things are going well. Last year, 59 characters were played in the top 8 of the national tournaments; 67 when you enter major regions and middle-income countries such as Australia. These are insignificant numbers, ”adds Brockman.
There is a comedy list Ultimate, of course. But if you're good enough with the character, you might be able to get out there and change the tile list … maybe with one hand. Do it.
Who Are the Key Players?
Has the crew changed a lot from Smash 4 to Ultimate? Among the survey questions, we asked the leading players who among them considered themselves the best.
Buzzby summarizes an incident such as, "The level between the end of Smash 4 and Ultimate is very similar between American players, but very different from international players."
To whom it's best, “While the order is different, the players that have been switched to Ultimate are MMLeo, Nairo, Tweek, Marss, Sisora, Cosmos, Void, Esam, (myself). The people who have had the least impact on the ranks are sadly Mr.R, Larry, Comorion, and KEN. In the end, the new names or people who have received the most momentum during the games are Zackray, Gluttony, Shuton, Maister and the dark wizard. ”
“Hungrybox” DeBiedma emphasizes much of this sentiment while watching what happened when other players like ZeRo left the content creation when playing competitively. "Japan is still a huge force. MKLeo is still a god in both games. Nairo is an outstanding player. Tweek is now one of the best. He is the only thing that I think will not change (going forward) … MKLeo is the best and Samora is the top three. "
What About Melee?
A constant question among Smash topics is that Super Brash Bros. Melee – a long, competitive game released in 2001 – will finally be set for a new version.
Well, if you had waited, it would not have happened. One year on Ultimate, Melee is going nowhere. In some ways, it's bigger than before. And unlike previous times, players look pretty happy with this combination.
"(The Ultimate release) has only been good (for Melee), I think," said "Hungrybox" DeBiedma, who is still the main character in Melee on the scene. "The focus on the competitions is aimed at Ultimate, but Melee has quietly met Ultimate for a while. In many events, Melee has not only been the same, in some cases, he actually had a high-quality look … really, really interesting to see."
Many players claim that they have played one Ultimate or Melee over and over, despite the fact that only a few of them were tested to continue playing both games.
“I decided to stop playing Melee for one year to play in Ultimate as I wanted to do something different and new. However, sometimes I find that exchanging games can be difficult, because I often do different types of & # 39; DI Survival & # 39; for each game … which can affect me negatively in competitions because it changes my memory and my muscle habits. "Mew2King" Zimmerman, competes frequently in both high-profile games. He describes the big problem of being a two-way competition as a technical difference between topics.
“The hardest part for me between switching Smash games is the difference in installation delay. Melee has very few delays, and Ultimate has many layers to install, and this I find difficult. ”
Also, more and more players from the Melee community are connecting. Says "MKLeo" Lopez Perez about this creation, "Melee has always been fun to watch and I'm excited that people like Leffen, Armada and Plpp are in the Ultimate community now."
This is a preview of the DeBiedma scene in advance of all the Smash scenes going forward. "I think for the rest of the time, as long as there is no re-release, or HD (version), or any other Melee track, smash majors will always have Melee's title and & # 39; t insert a whole new theme here & # 39; We're very proud of the special games. ”
What's Next for Final Benefits?
In one year, benefits continue to be learning, playing, and adapting. In a wild year that has seen this fighting game take a financial toll on an unprecedented scale, curious futures may just take every single part of the article and repeat it. Not rocket science.
There will be more content done on YouTube and Twitch, Ultimate will be featured in big name tournaments, there will be additional tier lists, and there will be more DLC. Nintendo he has declared more characters than the other five promised, actually.
Things only no guaranteed by 2020 and beyond what Nintendo itself controls: the strengthening of online operations, and the financial impetus for viewers to continue to attend competitions and competitions, regardless of whether they are creators or full-time or full-time developers.
“We need developer support. I can stress this enough, ”says the & # 39; & # 39; Hungrybox ”DeBiedma. "Nintendo, given the resources we have and provided the services of all the gaming companies – whether the Capcom Cup, for example, or other Komat World Cups are run, we need the developer support."
Some players suggested that a professional sponsored roundup would bring the needed organization, sponsorship, and organize the players and commentators they needed. Nothing indicates that it is near.
Overall, the pros are playing the same game, and they seem to love it and push it as far as the game can go. That's just there they Launch the game, they say they are anxious to find out how to balance their comparative skills when playing, talking, and organizing Smash Bros within an economically rewarding environment for their dedication, yet on the side of a progressive developer to keep them at arm's length.
And this is what is in the minds of Smash's most professional players these days: entering 2020, Nintendo is now the most popular fighting game of all time. What are they going to do about it?
We would like to thank you very much Robert Paul by allowing us to use his beautiful photographs to illustrate the article, as well as all the participants who shared their thoughts on this piece.
Table of Contents
