Nintendo Partners With Genesis 7 For Smash Tournament
This article was originally written for TheNintendoVillage.com, a website I founded and ran from 2018 to 2021.
Earlier this month, Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa was asked why Nintendo don’t stump up more prize money for competitive Smash Bros events. He was kind of cagey in his answer, essentially saying that Nintendo create games for a wide variety of audiences and so they didn’t want to put off casual players by drawing too much attention to the elite side of the game.
Nintendo’s lack of support for competitive Smash has long been a point of contention for players in the scene, but the latest news from grassroots event Genesis may give fans some hope that attitudes are beginning to change inside the Big N.
The tournament, which is being held in Oakland California from today until 26 January has officially partnered with Nintendo of America.
There’s no word on exactly what this partnership entails as yet. The prize pool currently stands at a little over $66k, and there’s no mention of whether Nintendo will be topping that up or contributing in any way. Still, being a grassroots event that hosts tournaments for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Super Smash Bros. Melee, and Smash Bros 64, as well Splatoon 2, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Super Street Fighter II Turbo, and Windjammers amongst others, hopefully this recognition from Nintendo means they’re starting to take Esports seriously. It is a billion dollar industry these days after all, and there’s 4000 registered attendees for Genesis 7 alone - with 1700 of them looking to take the crown in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
Do you think this is a positive move for Nintendo and the competitive Smash scene? Let us know in the comments below.