The top Super Smash Bros. Melee competitive player, Juan "Hungrybox" Debiedma, (who has been terrorising the scene with Jigglypuff for the past decade) is questioning his future commitment to the 2001 GameCube title.
In a recently published video on his YouTube channel, Debiedma said he finally felt "loved" and "appreciated" by the Smash community, since he'd been streaming Super Smash Bros. Ultimate from home during the pandemic.
"I think that for the first time in a very long in this community, I finally feel loved by a big group of people, I finally feel appreciated by a large audience - and that's the Ultimate crowd if I'm being honest."
The amount of effort he's put into Melee over the years appears to have taken its toll. He's even had a crab thrown at him in the past.
"For the little that I get for winning and putting that much effort into a Melee tournament, the amount I have to put in, but also the amount I have to deal with, as a result, is simply not worth it. It's simply getting to the point where the game does not bring me the happiness that it used to."
Later in the video, Debiedma admits he's never had the amount of support as he has in recent times on his YouTube and Twitch channels (with videos and streams focused on Smash Bros. Ultimate):
"You need a large number of people who want to see you prevail. You need a large number of people who are on your side, who want you to keep playing through thick or thin, and it's just simply something I've never had in Melee."
Ultimate has given him "a sense of placement" within the community, whereas he's often been portrayed as the villain in the Melee scene:
"caused me so much pain, so much grievance, so much mental strain, over the course of so much time. It's suffering, so much suffering it's caused me, as a result of the way in the which I tried to win, and as a result of me growing up through the community."
"I feel like I'm going to have to make some decisions on it, some big decisions on it coming soon, but as it stands currently, as of this video, I think the plan goes as follows, I do not think I'll be entering at least any online Melee events. I don't think it's good for my mental health, I don't think it is representative of the player that I want to be in that game, I don't think it's good for my fans to see me deal with that sort of struggle in that game and that lack of motivation, given all the expectations."
How would you feel about Hungrybox moving away from Melee's top tier to perhaps spend some more time with Ultimate? Leave a comment below.
[source youtu.be, via eventhubs.com]
Comments 48
this ain't news
@SoManyHaveDied Why does this not count as news?
He’s being quite a bit dramatic...
I’ve always liked Hungrybox to be honest, he played up on the bad guy act when in fact, he’s just exploiting the faults within Melee. Good to see he’s getting some more love with Ultimate.
@Kalmaro because it's gossip
@SoManyHaveDied Does this really count as gossip? Usually that's about private stuff and these are quotes he's put out in the open.
I honestly feel like it makes sense for HungryBox to join the Ultimate scene. For these reasons:
Hopefully this guy steps away from the game and takes the opportunity to become a functional human being
Melee community has always appeared to be toxic in my opinion. This is not changed over the decades, it has not changed with new games, it has not changed with new tournaments, it stays toxic. If he wants to leave and find a place that makes him feel happy, I am 100% behind him on that decision.
Ultimate's way more fun to play and watch and by the sounds of it, the Melee playerbase isn't the right place for him. So yeah, fully support him shifting over to Ultimate.
@KillerBOB He graduated from college with an engineering degree, and worked for companies like Gillette. I don’t know what you’re talking about with him not being a functional human being.
@DoktorTotenKopf Hungrybox? Being dramatic? Perish the thought.
Can't say I've ever really seen Hbox as a villain like he feels he is seen. Whatever he decides, I hope the best as he's entertaining to watch.
@Kalmaro it's speculation about a guy who plays a 20 year old game. not news. c'mon nintendolife
I think hungrybox is just trying to stealth call the smash community toxic without getting shot by them.
Which is 100% true, between the sexual allegations such a large portion of the smash pro scene is getting right now (even zero of all people has some.), and the sheer toxicity the melee community consist of (crowds breaking all the venue rules, breaking furniture, throwing things, jumping up and down on stages with weight limits, throwing actual crabs at pro players when they win, etc). I really do not blame him, he's just trying to find an out from the melee community without just outright calling out the community itself disgusting.
I remember before zero had allegations he would go into detail about how bad people would act or rage at the events, sometimes they would even yell and tell you how to play to beat the other guy or intentionally break your concentration.
The ultimate community seems way more chill but then again there's a bit more support for its pro scene by officials, and evo was cancelled so hard to say how physical events go.
@KillerBOB Guy's an engineer, Mr Burger Flipper.
@KillerBOB Take this opportunity to reflect on yourself and why you are like this, so that YOU might become a functional human being.
Hungrybox has plenty of success both in terms of work and play. Can you call yourself an engineer with experience from some of the largest companies in the world and world champion in a competitive video game at the same time?
If not, maybe just sit down.
I'm not personally a fan of his, but he's far from dysfunctional or a "waste of oxygen" as some people might put it about people who succeed in games but nothing else. He's probably a more accomplished, functional human being than most.
@SoManyHaveDied It's reporting on what he said. Gossip would be second-hand info. This is direct from the source.
Honestly, I think it's time. Actually, it's been time for a while now. Many in the Melee community hated him because he played defensive and slow in a scene where everyone else played fast characters aggressively. The pacing with his matches wasn't the same as what they wanted to watch, and as his style started to shift the meta towards that defensive/slow play, a number of fans tried to run him out of the scene by doing everything from throwing crabs at him in a tournament to attacking him on social media platforms for ruining the game. He turned it around and created a villainous persona playing into that narrative to make it his own for several years, but that shouldn't have been necessary in the first place. He redoubled his efforts, started winning consistently, and dominated the competitive scene ever since the other 'Smash Gods' moved on. But there's a vocal sect of that community that continues to harass him everywhere. It's time to just drop them. There's more money in streaming anyways.
Anyone playing the same game to this extent for almost 20 years is bound to get tired of it eventually.
That was very shellfish of someone to throw a dead crab at him.
@KillerBOB Haha says KILLER BOB! Absolutely love Twin Peaks too!
Some Smash tournament players are the worst human beings in the world. They exude such a level of arrogance simply because they’re good at a game. I wouldn’t p155 on them to be fair!
This guy needs to realise its a video game and not an actual real life sport.
Most over dramatic thing I've read in a while
What we learned today?
Melee community is a bunch of toxic morons. Anyone shocked?
I'd miss him. He was one of the few things keeping Melee's scene from becoming a Star Fox singularity. That and I've always liked the Pokémon Jigglypuff.
He should do what makes him happy.
@SoManyHaveDied It's an article discussing what said guy is currently talking about himself. I'm not sure what's wrong with that.
We may just have different definitions on what counts as news.
Video game player not sure he wants to keep playing a certain game anymore. What a novel concept.
@Handy_Man
He’s the best a man can get.
"Ok, gamer" seems appropriate.
@Kalmaro I'm old school. I want the news, about real stuff. not some guy who's gonna stop playing because of feelings. yawn, next
@Damo casual or unconstrained conversation or reports about other people = gossip. NOT news
@SoManyHaveDied I think I see your problem. You don't see Hbox as anyone that important so this doesn't seem like news to you.
Hbox is huge in the Smash community so when he says he's leaving something, it can cause ripples that affect other people and possible cause a shift towards melee players going to Smash ultimate.
This could mean an expansion to the Smash Ultimate scene and a decline in the Melee scene. That's a pretty big deal.
If I'm misreading you feel free to let me know.
@SoManyHaveDied Dude, he posted it onto the internet for other people to see. This isn't a chat he had with a friend in confidence, nor is it some overheard piece of industry chatter.
I hope he makes the decision that makes him happy and that people who likes watching he play can enjoy rooting for him. It's a game, it should be entertainment and fun
So....a guy got tired of playing a 20 year old game and is now playing a new one.
NEWS!!!!!
@Damo You get really defensive when people call clickbait clickbait. Do you not realize that you're just confirming that what they say is accurate?
The Melee community was toxic even waaay back when it was still fairly new. There's always been something about that particular game that just brings out the worst in people a lot. They're snobbish, elitist, etc. The fact they cause this guy so much grief is hardly a surprise.
" I grieve, I'm suffering, so much suffering, this game, it torments me, it's cruel, it hurts, I suffer, I bleed, the fans don't love me....I may just have to stop trying to make money by playing a 20 year old video game.....I can't endure the hardship any longer. And I want to be loved. And a different video game provides me love. It's a difficult decision...but I may not claim earned income from playing a really obsolete video game after this....Yes, I think I'll earn money playing the 1 year old version instead.....it will end my long torment and buy me love."
At least 100% of Melee fans are toxic.
@JimmySpades Are you saying this article is click bait?
@Kalmaro Well, it might not be clickbait of the level of every Brie Larson article that NintendoLife has published, but it's not news, and the fact that @Damo is protesting too much means that it is, in fact, clickbait, and not something that a normal site would merely label "human interest". Of course a normal site would simply produce news instead of the news-style information product that they produce here...
They threw a raw crab at him in a live match. If there's anyone who can complain about being annoyed by the community is him. Imagine getting booed whenever you're stalling in the game with Jigglypuff. He became a good villain in his prime, but I'm sure he just wants to move on.
@JimmySpades Well hold on, what counts as news then? We may be using different definitions. I figured any information that's not speculation could count as news.
@JimmySpades A) This isn't clickbait, and you clearly have no grasp of what that word means
B) I'm the editor and co-owner of this site, I have a right to counter what I believe to be incorrect comments
Have a nice day!
@playstation_king to be fair, as far as I know, the entire Melee fandom actively hated on this person, despite him being one of the absolute best players of the game.
Why? Simply because he plays as Jigglypuff instead of other cooler quicker characters.
Can't blame him for finally giving up on that game and its fans.
I'm glad Nintendolife still keeps reporting about competitive Smash Bros. It's also very nice to see actual thought put behind some comments. Not all though, usually they're very surface level like:
Yes, it's good to have valid criticism but I see that so rarely in Nintendolife when it comes to competetive Smash Bros. And to anyone commenting how they can't understand why they're talking about this one person (=important person to a large competetive scene, and it's getting even bigger because of the latest developments in Melee netplay)... yeah, keep on giving add revenue to NL by clicking these articles, more Melee related content for me to read.
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