Nintendo Trying To Attract Casual Smash Bros. Players With Its Tournaments

Casual gamers really don't care about tournaments. I enjoy just playing with some friends and mostly just play offline story and classic mode.

Hmmm, that would be a lot less boring than the "pro" tournaments.

This is wise. Nintendo ought to keep its distance. Competitive Smash is the least important part of Smash.

https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2019/04/random_competitive_melee_player_walks_off_stage_in_match-up_against_jigglypuff

That photo of Bill looks so wrong, looks like hes about to sneeze

@SetupDisk
That's it. Want to make the competitive scene interesting, keep items on, random stages, random characters.

“ years of silence that came off as dismissal” it was more than just silence they used to make lots of passive aggressive jabs at them most infamously being the tripping mechanic in Brawl that threw in a unavoidable luck element and it was never it I recall announced or explained by the developer.

Focus on fun. You can't go wrong.

Casual viewers aren't going to watch tournaments regardless because they just don't care or have time for it.

This just seems like a slap in a face for those who actually care about competitive smash (I don't personally).

Just close your eyes and mash buttons and let your brain tell you your having fun.

Competitive Smash isn’t something I care much for

I prefer playing it with friends in a relaxed, fun environment

No need for all the saltiness that comes from a scrub tournament

@shaneoh You want to make racing more interesting, just throw boxes of nails onto the track.

I have no problem with Nintendo trying an casual approach alongside a more serious competitive scene, but to say it's more interesting is really a failure to understand the pro game.

Better players will still win more consistently more often - you can't pick up the items if you're being tossed around the stage.

@Euler You're cherry picking a moment from a thoroughly solved game from almoat 20 years ago. Ultimate is far from that, and has the competitive scene plenty of fun and hype moments.

Well, makes sense.

I'm a casual Smash player and like these Nintendo tournaments.

"Pro" tourneys are already too closed in itself and the players are toxic.

@Andigaming You are wrong. Plus, your views represents everything that is wrong with the Smash prozzzzz tournamentzzzzzz

I'm surprised how many people seem on board with this, but I doubt they follow competitive Smash or that they'll watch this new pro-casual effort - and they're not watching Mario Party or Mario Kart tournaments either. What's the appeal of an RNG?

@Tirza How is @andigaminh wrong? Competitive Smash has been a thing for decades now. Nobody has shown any interesting in watching casual 'items on' tournaments. Saying they are "everything wrong" with the pro scene is a really nasty thing to say - it's an observation and it makes perfect sense: why would people who don't want to 'compete' compete? And why would I want to watch?

When you say the pro scene is toxic and closed off? Is this from experience? I've only met one "pro" player, and they were super nice and encouraging. They told me all the ways I could improve, and the things I was doing right and should be proud of.
That could be the exception, but even anecdotally it seems the Smash community is one of the least toxic and most welcoming compared to the traditional FGC and other competitive scenes.

@Bunkerneath
I agree he looks like he's half asleep 😹 and nice gif of Cloud Strife

@Spiders

True, I don't follow competitive Smash, but I have fun watching these tournaments around E3. As you said, better players still win more even with items or random stages, so why not have them on in things that aren't super serious? I like the variety they bring. I'm not that big into mastering a skill for the sake of mastering a skill, like with competitive Smash. I'm sure the players really know their stuff, but it's just not that interesting for me to play or watch, because I think it's too calculated.

I think a good example is board games with dice (not roll and move type), or cards. They have an element of luck, but you still make strategic decisions and will probably win against a weak player. I think it is this balance that I seek - luck and skill, and reacting to that element of luck. I see that as skill as well, rather than dismissing it as unnecessary randomness. In short, maybe controlled chaos? Something like that, I enjoy.

Me and my friends always play fun competitive.

Great!
The mankids ilk called 'professional gamer', 'speedrunners' and whatnot is exactly the stuff I do not want to associate games with.

Nintendo got that right. Take game development very seriously. Making playing into something serious is just awkward and sad.

I'm still amazed there are "pro" gamers.

Can I be a pro Lego player?

I find e-sports embarrassing. I understand sport is about competitiveness, but it's athletically a step down from Snooker and Darts. At least they have to stand up lol. Watching players sat down barely moving and contracting all kinds of circulation disorders over a long period of time isn't exactly thrilling. Now, the gameplay...I'll watch in my own time on YouTube.

@Tirza This is the same company that said watching others "isn't fun" when asked when they didn't add the ability to stream from the console like ps4/xb1.

And now they go and hold a 'casual tournament' with people like you and me playing, makes no sense.

@Trajan
If LEGO Masters ever comes to the US, then yes you could be.

@Spiders
Well it works for Mario Kart. As for the better players winning more often, of course they will. It's just adding a bit of randomness to a sterile environment.

@Spiders Evidently it’s not solved, seeing as the so-called tier list still changes every few years for Melee. And that’s far from the only example, it was just the easiest to come to mind.

@19WiX Exactly right. There’s a reason that the same person won the Mario Kart 8 tournament at my office three times in a row, and why John Numbers was a finalist two years in a row at the Nintendo World Championships.

Oh, what's this, an article about Smash? Neat, some more ways to play tournaments. While I don't play in tournaments, I'm glad there are more options to enjoy the hobby we all lov--
OUCH I just got hit in the mouth by a brick. Which side threw that?

Maybe if smash had working online, the casuals could get......better?

I don't see too many westerners travelling the countryside with their switch looking for duels like a bloody samurai. Sorry Japan.

@shaneoh didn't know about that. I guess I could pretend to be a Brit. Gonna need like 500 licenses. U w0t m8?

@Trajan
Or an Australian, we've just had the first series finish and they're looking for people for another . (also the Australian episodes can be found on... less than legal sites, if you're interested.)

I'm sorry but casual players don't go to tournaments. People who actually go to and enter tournaments are naturally those who want to compete!

Us casual players just play from time to time with friends or family.

I don’t think it’s necessary to sling mud at competitive players to make the point that the scene built up by said players is its own thing, and the way Nintendo wishes to present its own products is another.

It’s fine to be a committed competitive player and put in the hours to hone your craft. It’s fine to enjoy the games on a less technical level for the sheer fun of playing games.

It’s fine to train like a dog to break the 100m sprint record, and it’s fine to go for a jog around the park. It’s fine to go for a walk in the woods, and it’s fine to just sit in the garden sipping lemonade watching the clouds drift past.

It’s fine for the competitive scene to exist, and the causal scene to exist, and for people to float wherever they feel comfortable between them.

It’s all so completely, unexceptionally fine. There’s so little at stake. There’s so little to prove.

I can understand the sentiment, but kind of defeats the purpose of a tournament.

Just hold events to play the game.

I for one would definitely join this kind of tournament more than a standard one.

I guess that makes sense, though the idea of a major competition in which the winner is largely determined by something other than skill seems self-defeating. Wish Nintendo would do more to support the competitive scene, regardless.

@Baart Closed-minded much?

If anything tournaments with items on are going to teach players how un-fun items are in a competitive environment.

I've always wanted to compete in a local tournament just to see how far I could go and to experience it for the first time.

I don't think casual players want to join in with the literal vile stench which are the competitive Smash community.

Well it seems like it’s working since me and my girlfriend fall more on the casual side of Smash, even though we play a lot.

Now I’m not saying that the competitive scene is boring/lacking/too serious, they have some great intense one-on-one matches. It just that with this side, it’s add an extra layer of planning since you have to anticipate outside elements that is not in your control and use it to your advantage. Pretty much what @WiX is going with.

No reason they can’t both exist.

@Tao Vile stench like that of your comment? Seriously, learn a thing or two and stop spewing ignorance.

@Dr_Corndog not at all, but I do have standards and basic expectations of my fellow human beings. If that is considered close minded, I'll stay out of your club.

@Spiders Or have a soccer match where red cards and penalty kicks are awarded at random. It might be fun to watch, but no one would call it a real competition.

@Baart Arrogance and ignorance go hand-in-hand, I see.

Doesn't offering up tournaments for casual players kinda negate the just play to have fun message?

@Dr_Corndog Same goes for hygiene and social awareness.

@Andigaming Actually Nintendo has been holding tournaments for a very long time.

@Baart You are too funny. All right, back to bed with you.

@Andigaming When Nintendo's pre-E3 3v3 Smash World Finals airs online on 8th June, there'll be plenty of people watching, i guarantee it.

This chat forum is more toxic than what people think the Smash Tournament people are...

Give Lucario more screen time, then I'll talk, Nintendo.

This Game is too hard. It’s not fun for me. I really don’t understand the insane amount of hype. I’ve tried to get into it but I can’t make sense of what’s going on.its just a bunch of flashy crap on the screen.

@WiX I think all your points are why it's a great thing to have alongside the 'proper' competitve scene.

I think I'm more interested in the way it seems people are taking "pro/casual" sides when that's not what's happening, and the way people are justifying their opinions by their entertainment value.

It's the difference between a sport and a game show. The latter being more entertaining to the uninitiated shouldn't matter when we're discussing the quality and integrity of the competition.

I'm sure it will be fun to watch, and I'm even more sure it will be more fun to watch good players overcome.

@Reigestugatensho
Exactly. Some people have weird assumptions about competetive Smash scene.

@Dogorilla suggested Arms VR. Imagine that as an e-sport. Digital competitiveness married with athleticism. That's a more positive activity than sitting on your arse taking games too seriously.

@shaneoh I mean, I guess. I mean, I knew the names of pro Smash players before I even paid attention to the scene - I've never even heard of a Mario Kart 8 tournament.

@Dr_Corndog I'll stop being ignorant when the competitive Smash community stop trading showers for 12 cans of deodorant.