Can sometime explain to me how letting us watch others play a game is such a big gift to the core community? I would think that Twilight Princess was a much bigger gift to Nintendo fans.
Let's say Twilight Princess was a bigger gift to core fans. That was ten years ago!
This is a big deal because Nintendo had previously shot down Smash tournaments or at least made it hard to broadcast. Sakurai purposefully made Brawl with elements like tripping that randomize skill-based play. Nintendo's previous E3's have put myopic focus on the games they thought would get casual press like Wii Music or Nintendo Land. I would even argue that some of Nintendo's big games, like 3D World, have been hindered by their desire to appeal to casual, easy, local multiplayer gameplay.
Even if this is just for one title, a Smash tournament shows a reversal of those trends. It's a guarantee that a large portion of their E3 won't just be about a fighting game, but a competitive tournament, likely featuring players that study hardcore elements like frame data.
This move and even the flawed "For Glory" mode are an acknowledgment that Nintendo does see the hardcore fan as important to their bottom line, rather than the audience that they just assumed would always be there, prior to the Wii U. A sign like this shows that Nintendo understands it must make concessions to the core fan because the sales of Wii U show that core fans will go elsewhere. And the more concessions they make to the core, the better for most of us here on GAF.
Even without reading this as Nintendo's admission of the failures of Nintendo Land/Game&Wario/Wii Fit/etc., it's at least a sign that the hardcore community can share the stage with that crap. Not only that, but maybe they'll even ask for feedback from the Smash community after the players get a chance to get their hands on the game. And it's not just a good sign, but it'll be a fun, gamer-focused event at an E3, where they might spend a lot of time spewing info on a Kindle for yoga moms.
