About #FreeMelee...

You've probably heard or seen the #FreeMelee hashtag making the rounds on the web. For those not aware, #FreeMelee is the tag used by the Melee camp voicing their disgust over Nintendo canceling The Big House, the biggest, longest running Smash tourney in the United States. With the COVID-19 pandemic wreaking havoc around the world and getting far worse in the US during this fall season, online tournaments is the way for Smashers as well as the FGC (fighting game community) to play for the foreseeable future. As such, The Big House was going to be hosted online this year and by Nintendo. But why did Nintendo cancel it? Simple: The Melee crowd did not comply with Nintendo's wishes. 

Smashers have been playing Melee online using Slippi, an unauthorized project that has, among other features, rollback netcode, allowing for a super smooth online play experience. Slippi was going to be the way Smashers played Melee at this year's The Big House. Nintendo asked the tournament organizers not to use Slippi to play Melee. They decided not to listen, so big daddy N sent them a C&D, canceling the tourney, much to the frustration of Melee players.

Playing Melee on original hardware can be cumbersome. The game was originally released in late 2001 on the GCN and has never been re-released on any other Nintendo platforms. In the many times it was hosted at tournaments, the use of CRT TVs as well as original GCNs, both of which have long been discontinued, was required to play the game. With many people having to do things remotely these days, it is easy to see why Melee players would flock to Slippi to get their fix. Am I defending them? Of course not. In fact, this is one of those times I have to side with Nintendo and say the Melee camp is very much in the wrong here.

We all know how protective Nintendo is of their IPs. You will not find a company that guards IPs as fiercely as Nintendo. The Big N were the ones hosting this year's Big House. So, if they asked the TOs not to use Slippi, pirated software, to play Melee, a game they still own the rights to, and the TOs decided to keep on, well, is anyone really surprised Nintendo retaliated the way they did? I'm more surprised that Nintendo asked them not to do the thing they were doing first before going with a C&D. Usually, a C&D is given with no warning from this company.

The other thing that surprises me is the amount of sympathizers for the Melee crowd. There are dozens of videos on YouTube that are mad at Nintendo for the use of the C&D this time. For the umpteenth time, Nintendo was the one hosting Big House this year. There is no version of this where the Melee crowd would get their way. It doesn't matter if Nintendo isn't making money off Melee anymore. It is still their IP and they within their right to protect it. "But, other companies don't send C&Ds when we illegally play their games!" Dude, Nintendo is not like other companies. 

You have Melee players getting all huffy saying they are done with Nintendo, swearing not to ever buy another product from them again, or that Nintendo is hiding Melee from the world. Man, it is so eye rolling to read stuff like that. The Melee camp, or in this case, the TOs brought this on themselves so they do not get to pull out the victim card. Sorry, Melee crew, but ya'll are gonna have to hold that L.