What about Smash inspires such odd hero worship?

[superstar allstar]

If Isai were to walk into Genesis, I half-expect the assembled stadium to bow-down reverently and throw rose-pedals at his feet. If there were anyone women there, they would break into tears, pull there hair and gnash there teeth.

There are people out there who are awesome at Golden Eye or Ninja Gaiden, those players don't have youtube videos dedicated to them or any sort of cult celebrity status attached to there names. Does anyone have any theories of why this particular game inspires such hero-worship?

 

[Dylan_Tnga]

Natural talent is big in smash. Some people are just gifted at it, despite any amount of practice some smash players will always dominate if they put their mind towards it. As with a master of any game or sport.

Smash also allows you to create your own combos. Therefore the style in which you beat your opponents and put on youtube is unique and can be contributed to your hero status "sick kills, DI etc"

 

[NixxxoN]

Smash is not just a videogame, its like a sport

 

[Daedatheus]

There are people out there who are awesome at Golden Eye or Ninja Gaiden, those players don't have youtube videos dedicated to them or any sort of cult celebrity status attached to there names. Does anyone have any theories of why this particular game inspires such hero-worship?

Are you serious? That's like asking why handball players don't get the same rousing cheers from an audience that basketball players do.

No one really plays Golden Eye competetively. Ninja Gaiden is more of a solo/speedrun kind of thing.

Smash has been having tourneys for ages in ALL of its games and competetive Melee was in the public eye during its Major League Gaming pro circuit. Since then, the release of Brawl has been a huge thing in gaming due to the popularity of the series, bringing more people to the competetive table. People are still hosting even Smash64 tourneys and Melee as you obviously know is still going strong. Brawl need not be mentioned, its community grows larger everyday.

Smash is a popular game and at the highest levels, takes buttloads of skill. Because it's been played so much and for so long, the "metagame" as it were is more evolved and subtly complex than most other competetive games.

It's essentially become a sport, and the best in a sport are always loved by those who play the game. We can understand how awesome their play is because we know how much skill is involved in what they do as we all play the game.

Also let's not forget that since it's now like a sport, Smash is a sport without a fitness barrier - so pretty much everyone who likes it plays it. You have to get good fine motor skills for the technical stuff, sure, but more people are ready to commit to that than hardcore physical training.

 

[superstar allstar]

I totally agree with all those points, it was more of an open-ended question that my friends have been bull****ting about. Perhaps Golden Eye and Ninja Gaiden were crappy examples. I agree that players will always recognize the best at a game, but games like Soul Calibur are just as popular and just as skill-based and I really don't think the top tier Soul Calibur players have names that ring-out.

I do think all the improvised combos and higher tier techniques make it a lot more fun to waste youtube time on then watching most other fighting games vids.

No offense, but calling Smash a sport is a bit of a stretch though. I think the physical barriers are sort of a defining quality of what the word sport means. The idea of a sport without physical exertion is like a blowjob without a woman's mouth on your *****.

Bowling will just never be in the Olympics. (although it is still one of the 30 major events in regionally sponcered Special Olympics events)

 

[Blue Yoshi]

Bowling is a sport. Golf is a sport. Even Poker is a sport. I think smash takes more energy than poker.

 

[Fireblaster]

games like Soul Calibur are just as popular and just as skill-based and I really don't think the top tier Soul Calibur players have names that ring-out.

lol ringout? GET IT? RING-OUT?!??!

LOOOOL

 

[rehab]

There are plenty of hero-worship style videos of other fighting game players out there, smash players just make considerably more of them, being prone to elevate good players to a level of name recognition that a street fighter player probably wouldn't get for Top 8 at EVO just because they do something pretty.

I do think all the improvised combos and higher tier techniques make it a lot more fun to waste youtube time on then watching most other fighting games vids.

Watch Marvel Vs Capcom 1 or 2, Capcom vs SNK 2, Street Fighter Alpha 3, Guilty Gear Slash and beyond I guess combo/whatever vids if you want improvised combos. Or just watch a Super Turbo match, they're often over very quick just because everything dies fast. If you don't find them fun to watch but find Smash fun to watch, it's probably the Nintendo in you talking.

 

[Daedatheus]

I agree that players will always recognize the best at a game, but games like Soul Calibur are just as popular and just as skill-based and I really don't think the top tier Soul Calibur players have names that ring-out.

Games like Soul Calibur didn't sell as much, don't appeal as much to the casual player, and don't have Nintendo characters in them (except for that one with Link).

Thus, Smash got a lot more popular and as a fighting game feels WAY more accessible AND you're more likely to actually find others near you who are willing to play it. Smash had an easier time getting big and strong

No offense, but calling Smash a sport is a bit of a stretch though.

I wasn't necessarily calling it a sport, but I was implying that Smash is, when played competetively, everything that a competetive sport is but with a different kind of physical exertion. Fingers and mind more than anything else.

This is why the best players are so revered. The best players of games that are still "just games", people say "oh that's cool" and move on. If you're a pro at a "sport" then you get hero worship.

 

[superstar allstar]

Oh, I see what your saying, good point.

On the topic of "poker as a sport" I actually admit that I was a "pro-poker player" for about 3 years, in that it was my sole source of income. Anyone who is halfway good at video games could do it and I was always surprised how few nerds turn there powers to financial gains. Personally, it never really felt like a sport to me. It's sort of semantic though.

On the topic of smash taking more focus then poker, I think that poker takes more focus in-the-moment but poker is about long-term focus and not getting bored. which is a totally different thing. I think that the only way to compare the two properly would be to play at least 1500 stock smash game with no breaks allowed except for 3 minute bathroom breaks. Perhaps make a bet of at least 100 bucks or more.

Would anyone be willing to take that sort of bet at Genesis, out of curiosity? It would certainly be a ridiculous smash event to witness.

 

[Daedatheus]

Anyone who is halfway good at video games could do it and I was always surprised how few nerds turn there powers to financial gains.

I'd say it's much harder to make a living off gaming. You really have to be in the top 2% of all players, the upper echelon of whatever game it is that you play to see any kind of income, and even so, it would be unsteady. You'd also have to keep switching games to make the most money. Poker has a history of being played for money so if you weren't doing great at big games you could always scam a bunch of kids at a college who are throwing cash in the pot and utterly defeat them. Smash, people are less willing to throw in money for unless they're **** good and they know it.

Would anyone be willing to take that sort of bet at Genesis, out of curiosity? It would certainly be a ridiculous smash event to witness.

LOL I don't even want to know what the last few matches would look like.

*c-stick**c-stick**c-stick**c-stick* "When is this over?"

If you played that marathon in Smash64, the joysticks on your controllers would be utterly destroyed by the end.