Gym Leader Geo

Not even trying to roast here because I think most people are ignorant to this…but this is worth saying to remind people. 😔 The fact that the average person / person not in the community doesn’t realize this fact always breaks my heart For those of you seeing this tweet and are unfamiliar: Nintendo has never, not once, to any of my memory, added any cash funding to a modern Smash tourney prize pot apart from Panda Cup (which was cancelled due to protest after another grassroots circuit, SWT, was also shut down by Nintendo a month prior). If they have, it was likely for a much smaller scale or something far less significant that left my memory. They’ve held their own tourneys and invitationals (which I myself was invited to and competed in…twice) but mainly for the promotion of their own game - first place was often a trophy or licensed merchandise but never any money for the talented player that managed to come out on top. They have “sponsored” events, which to my knowledge consisted of providing setups, advertising, or booths where you could play the upcoming titles. Again - promotion for themselves first. But unfortunately, this often came at the cost of not being able to use any modded versions of any game at all, and even muting certain in-game songs because the license wasn’t cleared. Commentators weren’t even allowed to wear shirts with a logo. Instead, when certain events didn’t meet their criteria, they actively tried to shut down events with C&D clauses sent to organizers (Big House), or tried to prevent the event live-streaming its smash portion (EVO 2013) until a massive outcry from their fanbase and horrible PR caused them to overturn their position. To this day, I’ll hold my ground on this topic. It just doesn’t make any sense when almost every other major develops does this for their competitive scenes. I believe it’s just a massive tone-deafnesses in the company culture. Maybe not NOA, but for certain Nintendo Japan, who makes the final call at the end of the day. There’s just such a massively missed opportunity here. It’s been decades. And it’s nonsensical. And it’s the reason whenever I have a platform to remind everyone about it. Imagine releasing skins for the game and taking just 5% of the revenue from those sales and putting it into an end-of-the-year spectacle like The International. A multi-million dollar event. It would be ground-breaking. And the funniest part? They probably all know who I am and they probably hate me over there for constantly speaking up about it. But the irony is I’m only trying to help the executives realize just how much good they could do for the community if they embraced the scene in the same way Capcom embraced Street Fighter, or Epic embraced Fortnite. Anyway. Just posting this for knowledge and helping others understand. @Nintendo when you wanna finally do things right - I’m ready to help.