Is this relevant

[Donovan McGrabb]

Do people even play smash 64 anymore? How big is the tourrnament scene?

 

[Herbert Von Karajan]

Last month there was an international tournament in Tacna, Peru, that was attended by people from USA, Canada, Mexico, and Chile.

 

[Sedda]

Do people even play smash 64 anymore? How big is the tourrnament scene?

the tournament scene isn't huge but it's getting bigger. The US has the least developed community in terms of gameplay in comparison to Japan, Peru, and allegedly Chile. There are also players in Europe and Australia, though I'm not sure how active their communities are.

Still, The tournament scene has been getting more and more players every year. I've even seen some decent growth here in NC. It's definitely relevant. We also play online a lot.

We don't get hundreds and hundreds of players per tournament if that's what you're asking, but we're hoping to reach 200 at Apex early next year.

 

[Donovan McGrabb]

I mean is it possible to still make a living on strictly smash 64 tournaments

 

[Herbert Von Karajan]

you cant make a living strictly on any smash game

 

[Sedda]

well you could make a living off Melee if you were one of the top players and attended tournaments weekly (and even more than once a week), but it wouldn't be that much fun (imo) and it wouldn't last that long. The number of players playing the game and the region you live in are the main things you'd have to worry about, and nobody can control that. It doesn't seem like players are going anywhere right now, but it's like investing a lot of money into a business you have no clue where it will be in the next year. It would also take you years to get that good.

It has never been possible to make a living playing 64. That's pretty much nobody's goal in the smash community. Focus on having fun lol
It's so much better that way.

 

[Herbert Von Karajan]

well you could make a living off Melee if you were one of the top players and attended tournaments weekly (and even more than once a week), but it wouldn't be that much fun (imo) and it wouldn't last that long.

no u would literally turn into a zombie and lose all of your hair and you will die an early death
If you won every single tournament there is no way you would make more than 20k a year from just winnings
And what would your expenses look like? I imagine you would need to travel all over, all the time, so you would get ***** on gas and food

 

[Sedda]

no u would literally turn into a zombie and lose all of your hair and you will die an early death
If you won every single tournament there is no way you would make more than 20k a year from just winnings
And what would your expenses look like? I imagine you would need to travel all over, all the time, so you would get ***** on gas and food

I know you love arguing with me, but the top players have sponsors that take care of a lot of the traveling expenses, plus these guys get a monthly paycheck. Not saying it's much, but plus tournament winnings (not EVERY single tournament) but all of their local tournaments that get 40+ people more than once a week is enough to get by in a lot of the country because tournament prices for locals don't vary much. Melee gets those numbers even in NC and we only really have one good player.

There are also other ways these players are able to support themselves though smash, and that's mainly streaming gameplay.

I know it's really hard for you to believe baby<3, but Melee is big enough in some areas of the country that it can support a handful of players.

 

[Herbert Von Karajan]

"support"

seems like a horrible existence

rather have a real yob and play smash in japan 2x a year and go to peru every 2ish years

 

[Sedda]

whatever you say karajan. I understand that you're happy with your life and you have a successful career, but some of those people are more than happy if they can play Melee for a living. They don't need to travel to other countries because their own scene doesn't suck.

 

[yOLORIN]

the term real job is so silly lol. i'd guarantee the people who play melee for a living bring more joy to people than you do with your "real" job karajan, and isn't that what life is all about ^_^

 

[MrMarbles]

the term real job is so silly lol. i'd guarantee the people who play melee for a living bring more joy to people than you do with your "real" job karajan, and isn't that what life is all about ^_^

by that defination we should all become hookers

 

[Sedda]

that's not what ducky is saying. by saying "real" job, we should all become engineers, but not everybody wants to, and that's exactly the point.

 

[Cobrevolution]

i think we discussed this with respect to m2k, and it came out to like 15-25k a year or something. i still think all other expenses (bills, rent, additional travel, food, unforeseen circumstances, etc) will kill you.

 

[Herbert Von Karajan]

i am a hooker

 

[Sedda]

i think we discussed this with respect to m2k, and it came out to like 15-25k a year or something. i still think all other expenses (bills, rent, additional travel, food, unforeseen circumstances, etc) will kill you.

11,932 and some odd cents is the amount m2k has made at some of the tournaments (about 12-15) posted on here

http://www.ssbwiki.com/Smasher:Mew2King

just this year.

I spent only about 5 minutes looking for the payouts, and most of the tournaments linked on there don't have the payout amounts readily available or even on the smashboards threads. I was too lazy to come up with the $$ amount myself for these, but a lot of them have well over 100 entrants, and this list doesn't show anything near the amount of tournaments m2k has attended this year (the 40+ he has placed 1st in, where in a lot of cases he ends up making more there than what he'd get at EVO for getting 7th).

This amount is also only from Melee singes.

Sooo this excludes melee doubles (which he almost always wins even at the top international tourneys), PM singles (reading through the tournament threads shows that he's made even more in PM singles than Melee singles in a lot of cases), PM doubles, Brawl singles and doubles, and yes, even 64.

Oh and also his streaming.

and his p4k sponsorship that covers travel costs. edit- plus paycheck


I doubt he's drowning, but like I said, you can't count on all the influx of new players staying especially with smash 4 coming out.

atm, if you're a god in Melee, you're doing ok.

 

[Cobrevolution]

but the discussion really isn't whether or not m2k can make a living off it, considering he's the furthest thing from normal (in the day to day sense).

he doesn't drive anywhere, he always has rides. therefore, he doesn't have to worry about gas, upkeep of a vehicle, and car insurance. he always stays at peoples' houses, seldom at hotels, so he doesn't have to eat expensive food and pay (often exaggerated) hotel fees.

few players are sponsored (although this is borderline irrelevant, considering if you're a top player you're more than likely going to be sponsored). i am not clear on how it works all the time, though - does the sponsor pay for ALL of his traveling? every weekend to any tournament in the US? no matter what hotel he might want to stay at? does he decide which flights he wants and what class? etc.

he's living in socal with some other smasher, so i'm curious just how much rent is out there. i can't imagine it being dirt cheap. but the point is that he has a roommate who helps pay the bills and the rent (excluding cell). groceries? home necessities?

also, i don't know why nobody brings this up, but playing smash and having a sponsor doesn't get you benefits (insurance and what not). medical insurance, dental, vision - presumably, he's still under his parents' coverage. at which point we enter a subjective discussion of whether or not you can really be "living on your own making a living" when key life components are still directed by your parents.

i guess he doesn't do anything entertainment wise, like go to the movies, go to a concert, spend the night at a bar or at a club, etc. but these are things many others do. and i simply do not think it's possible to sustain a lifestyle by doing so.

but hey, maybe i'm wrong.

 

[Sedda]

idk id rather stop speculating

 

[Annex]

Major cities seem to hold around 1-3 tournies a month
Join facebook groups for your area and check the smashboards events pages. Online is big too. If you're interested in that check the index

 

[ciaza]

I don't think anyone could make a decent living playing smash, but from what I remember of watching Survivor (lol), I recall Ken saying he made 50k and that it paid his way through college for him. Which would be pretty cool.

 

[clubbadubba]

wait m2k lives in socal now?

 

[Morin0]

M2K lives with the famous League of Legends player "Sky" in Los Angeles. However, M2K is always out of town because of OoS tournaments.

 

[mixa]

I don't keep up with the anything melee anymore, but if « the chronicles of m2k » ever comes out, you guys please let me know

 

[Sedda]

I'd love to see Sangoku attempting to tell us that we've derailed the threa, but the title is very fitting. **** da police

 

[Fireblaster]

M2K probably makes the most money out of anyone that plays smash and he takes a lot of shortcuts (people give him rides, housing, etc.). He says it's a rough experience and that's one of the reasons he's going to do more streaming instead.

So no, it is not viable to make a living off of smash.

 

[clubbadubba]

If Nintendo starts legitimately supporting the smash community it might become viable. Though it would certainly only support future games.

 

[Shears]

Most sponsors don't really pay much at all. Most sponsors give the players t-shirts, pay venue and entry fee for tournaments and thats about it. The bigger sponsors for the biggest players will pay for travel expenses, and thats usually just the cost of the bus ticket or plane flight, not food or anything. Very few sponsors give pay checks, and if they do its not more than a couple hundred a month best case scenario. Streaming and subscribers is the best way to make money because thats a steady revenue stream but only top players have a chance at bringing that in so people like m2k are the only ones that can really do it. Big tournament winnings pay a "lot" but even then it doesn't last long and people like m2k need to constantly be attending locals and winning them to try to last until the next big tournament. Fireblaster is right, m2k probably makes the most and has minimized his expenses and still has considered retiring so many times and is always asking about someone getting him a job because he is barely making it by as a full time professional smasher. Can you survive off playing smash? Yes. Can you really live off playing smash? No. A talentless, minimum wage, McDonalds assembly line cook makes about as much as m2k and doesn't need to stress and travel and run around the country sleeping at bus stations, mooching off others, begging for rides and food, and spend all of his free time training and playing a video game. The best and most talented people the smash community has to offer is in line with any 16-year old high school dropout fast food employee.