Almost half of Evo Japan's Smash Ultimate entrants didn't show up
by Dustin Steiner
Triple Point Entertainment
Smash Ultimate
Evo Japan kicked off on January 24 with some unfortunate news for those hoping for a massive Smash Ultimate tournament to watch: almost half of its competitors didn't bother to show up.
No shows at fighting game community events are a common occurrence, but it's not usually at such a high rate. 2,988 entered, and only 1,819 showed up. This means that 39.12% of entrants were unable to make their pools.
This could have been from any number of circumstances, including travel difficulties, difficulties finding the venue, or people just deciding it was not worth attending the event at all. Also, it could be that many Japanese competitors had difficulty taking off from work, as it's widely noted that many employers in Japan have issues with offering requested time off.
The other games at Evo Japan have not had the same issue, meaning this is likely isolated to Smash Ultimate, but why?
Read more: Smash community furious as disgraced pro Ally returns
The game's run at Evo Japan has been heavily criticized by fans due to its lack of a prize pool. The only prize for winning the entire event is a special Nintendo Gamecube controller provided by Nintendo that has a unique golden Smash ball logo.
With no prize pool for the event, many competitors could have canceled their plans to attend, despite it offering a significant amount of Panda Global Ranking points, the one accepted metric by which pros are ranked in the Smash scene.
juddy's as close to accurate EVO Japan 2020 Smash Ultimate numbers as possible:
1169 DQ's
1819 players showed up
— Justin (juddy96) (@juddy_96) January 24, 2020
Most of the notable players going to Evo Japan did make it to their pool, so overall the top echelon of competition should be unaffected by these happenings.
Read more: How to watch EVO Japan 2020 – Streams, schedule, more
It's worth pointing out that all of the other events at Evo Japan are affiliated with the Japan Esports Union and are accredited games. This allows them, under Japanese law, to offer prize pools at events. Nintendo has not participated in this organization or its discussions, which prevents Evo from offering a prize at all. This event was also a free entry tournament, which meant there was little to no risk to signing up, even if you couldn't end up making it.
With Genesis 7 also running this weekend, also playing host to over 1,600 entrants, it will be a hype weekend of Smash esports action regardless.
Many competitors didn't make it to the free entry tournament.
Evo Japan will run from January 24-26 in Tokyo, Japan. Smash Ultimate's Top 8 is scheduled for 10:30 PM Eastern Standard Time on January 25, assuming Tekken 7 does not run long.
Pokemon Go Johto Celebration event: date & time, Shiny Miltank, Entei, Raikou & Suicune raids
Smash Ultimate leaker explains why Nintendo won't make Geno a fighter
by Michael Gwilliam
Super Mario RPG's Geno has been a Smash Ultimate fighter candidate for many years, and a Japanese leak gaining traction online may reveal why Nintendo hasn't upgraded the puppet to a full character.
While Geno became a Mii Fighter starting with Smash 4 on Wii U and then again in Ultimate, fans have wanted the character to be something more. Numerous fan groups dedicated to getting the RPG character in Smash have sprung up, and it seems like Nintendo is aware of his popularity.
The question then, of course, is why isn't Geno in Smash Ultimate if the fan support is so high? After all, favorites such as Banjo, Ridley, and King K Rool were added to Ultimate, so why not Geno?
Well, according to a Japanese leaker who correctly stated that Steve from Minecraft and Dragon Quest's Hero were coming to the game, Nintendo is confused about where his support is coming from.
The leaker correctly said Steve was coming to Smash.
In a 2018 post on the 5ch site, the leaker claimed that all Nintendo is hearing is "put him in Smash" with little to no support for a remake or new Super Mario RPG title.
Read More: Japanese Smash Ultimate leaker reveals future DLC fighters
"Developers are confused about this whole Smash fever situation," the leaker claimed. "Especially from the third party side, they don't want their characters to be established as 'Smash' characters, and the occasional requests for a new game are always associated with Smash representation."
This is an interesting point and it's easy to see why developers would look at Geno – a character from a one-off Square Enix RPG – and not want him viewed as anything more than a Smash fighter.
Geno is nothing more than a Mii fighter.
"This kind of attitude from fans are making the devs unsure of their real intentions," the leak continued, noting how the internet demographic is loud and there's no indication if fans really want the series revived.
Read More: Sakurai's Smash Ultimate DLC fighter choices reportedly leaked
"They just couldn't take a chance on developing a whole new game by having Smash come in first," it states.
If this leak is true, then it doesn't bode well for Geno ever being added to a Smash game as anything other than a Mii fighter or Spirit.
Of course, as always, take these posts with a grain of salt, but given the leaker's track record, there could very well be some truth to it.