Looks like I'm one of the few that's happy to see two Smash games. They might be from the same series but they are very different beasts and attract different kind of players. I know, you can say that about any fighting game series but hey, I'm a big Smash fan.

@nathanxplosion : I doubt the Smash community will let go of Melee anytime soon. The overall reception from Smash 4 is pretty positive so far in a "It's better than Brawl" sort of way. For me personally, it's probably my favorite Smash game next to Project M. At higher level play, Melee is still a happy accident that allows for more impressive technical play, making it a "faster" and "deeper" game to some. I prefer playing Smash 4 and I like watching tournaments but Project M and Melee are still considered THE competitive "tryhard/hardcore" Smash games.

Two ArcSys fighters and two smash games? huh. Welp, I can't wait to watch the Melee finals go 2 hours over schedule or whatever, though I will at least check out the Smash 4 stuff since I haven't seen a lot of that on a competitive level. Bummed about the lack of KoF, hope MK X is more entertaining to watch at a high level than MK 9 and Injustice were.

@arbitrarywater: I think MK X depends on whether it's somewhat balanced or not (hint: It won't be). Definitely going to have to figure out something else to do for 5-6 hours on EVO Top 8 day until Marvel/USFIV.

@arbitrarywater: Spoiler for Smash 4: Lots of Diddy

They should start Melee now to make sure it stays on schedule

Aww having no BlazBlue just made me realize that we won't get to see Pop's insane Platinum. I hope he enters in another game.

Really? Booooooo.

Is there even a chance of them changing the rules for Smash? Because if what I hear is right, Smash WiiU matches would be even longer because than Melee, and I can't take that.

Jeff will be happy to hear Puff Daddy is at EVO.

no KoF

Marvel yet again (Seriously, no more X factor Vergil sword supers with Doom hidden missiles and Soulfist Soulfist Soulfist. Enough's enough :| )

Melee (great, really supportive community but matches are boring as shit to watch and roster has little variety. I'm expecting a finals to at least include Fox McCloud)

would rather see DoA Last Round make it over Melee but oh well. Maybe there will be side tourneys

I don't know if this is the place for it, but I would really like to see a game like TowerFall represented. I had hours upon hours of fun with that game this year with friends and things would get really heated and enjoyable. I don't know if you can define it as a fighting game but I would love to see it in a tournament somewhere!

Evo typically has a space for indie games. In fact, Towerfall was at that space at last year's event! http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/06/20/evo-2014-indie-game-showcase-revealed

Fucking Smash Brothers.

EVO 2014 registration numbers by game

Ultra Street Fighter 4 - 1,979

Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 - 1,014

Super Smash Bros. Melee - 970

BlazBlue: Chrono Phantasma - 508

Killer Instinct - 338

King of Fighters 13 - 319

Injustice: Gods Among Us - 311

Tekken Tag Tournament 2 - 257

Bottom 3 games were cut. KI is a rather new game which has room to grow, especially with its second season. The number of BBCP entrants was inflated last year by Aksys' ridiculous pot bonuses.

Sucks to see FGC people unhappy about all the smash. Over in smash land, we are estatic and we are passionate bunch. So much in fact I don't think Evo limiting the stocks on melee would go at all. I'd personally be upset. I think the solution is with shorter hand warmers and quicker counter pick choices.

That said, I could live with 3 stock Melee. Any less than that would butcher the game.

People who only watch smash at evo are skeqed about how long it takes because we got Armada vs Hungrybox twice. A select few match up in the game are quite long I agree but some are lighting quick. So 2 stock in many matches could end in half a minute and one of the main aspects of smash is holding stocks and the ability for comebacks that way. 2 Stock smash 4 works because it keeps these elements due to the much slower pace of the game.

Really Melee needs to be spun off into oblivion. How old is it by now? One Smash is enough and sometimes I really doubt Smash even belongs in EVO. Anyway, I'm excited for Tekken 7!!!

I also hope they do a stealth announcement for Marvel vs. Capcom 4. Sony shouod jump on Marvel too.

It says a lot about what Nintendo have done with Smash if people are still preferring to play Melee over a decade later.

Marvel is stale but still more fun to watch than most of the other games, not everybody uses Vergil, Doom, Morrigan, even though yeah I absolutely hate watching Vergil and Doom at this point.

KoF13 is literally the reason I've cared about EVO at all the last couple of years. I enjoy watching the ridiculousness of MvC3 just for the sake of it, but honestly, nothing else interests me. P4AU is going to be boring as fuck, as it's basically a pool of four characters that will be chosen. I would've rather see Blazblue.

I'll be curious to see how Guilty Gear goes.

Just not excited about this, though...

Awesome! Time to get hype.

I completely do not understand anyone who watches Melee and thinks its boring. It's an insanely fast fighting game which is incredibly technical if people actually bothered to care. The new Smash makes no sense to be on stage. It is incredibly slow and will turn off people who don't want to watch a slow ass game.

Sure, the moment to moment action is very fast and twitchy, but the matches just overall take far too long. The stage selection alone takes forever and the people playing are so good at blocking, dodging, and recoveries that it takes forever to eliminate even a single stock.

I'm sure they were in a bind with Smash. If they didn't have both there would be a bunch of people freaking out because a lot of competitive Smash players are insane. Glad to see my anime fighters though and hopefully side tourneys for KOF. I have no idea why Marvel is still so popular. It's easily with Melee for most boring game.

Sucks that we don't get KoF, but Guilty Gear has me pretty excited. It goes without saying that Mahvel (baby) has me hyped too.

Losing Injustice, BlazBlue, and TTT2 all make sense as there will be essentially new versions of all of them. Having two Smash games and no KOF is pretty lame though. Nothing against the Smash community but from a pure viewing standpoint KOF has been way more entertaining to watch for non-players then Smash has been. I understand they were probably at a difficult position with Smash, deciding between Wii U and Melee, but cutting KOF is not what I think was the best choice.

I would have liked UNIEL and KOF13, but I guess GGXRD and MKX will cover my tangential curiosity pretty well. USF4 is the only thing that matters to me anyways.

I guess having more games I don't want to watch this year isn't all bad. I can live somewhat of a normal life without feeling like I'm missing something.

@jakob187: I heard the latest patch in Japan for Persona has really improved things.

@zella: The KoF scene in America has evaporated. There simply isn't anyone playing.

Personally my problem with Smash is that the mechanics that are key to pro level play are what make it brutal to watch. The game has great mobility, to the point where I think it's more fun seeing people use that to avoid getting hit. The blocking/dodging system is what makes it hard to watch for me. It's interesting how polarizing it is though. It seems like people either love it or don't even want it in EVO.

Also it's irritating to me that a game I've enjoyed so much, in KOF is gone but there are 2 games from the same series in. I wouldn't be surprised to find out that both Smash games individually do better than KOF from a viewer/competitor perspective, but I still would like it to be in.

Melee is just boring to watch. For starters, the game is generally considered a party game for some casual fun. That some people found the mechanics to be worthy of high level competitive play is fine and all but doesn't make it any fun to watch. EVO is more about spectacle than 'omg he did a 1 frame block with pikachu!'. I am a very good Tekken player but watching Tekken at EVO bores me. On the other hand, I always watch Marvel because it looks so awesome but I absolutely suck at the game itself.

Melee is a 10+ year old game with very little relevance today. The 1 vs. 1 fights look absolutely boring. A battle royale would be more interesting. Also, the top players are not good entertainers or interesting personalities. I don't expect everyone to be a FChamp or Ageojoe on camera, but more often than not the players are wearing pikachu hats. Now that's just awkward. Melee might have a close community or whatever, but they should hold their own EVO or something. Smash Bros U is fine however. Melee is dated as fuck.

I'm pretty sure that they are just testing the waters to see if there is any interest in Smash 4 for EVO. It'll probably get cut next year if it doesn't give out any results. That's a lot of cash to be spending on Wii U units and game discs for something that garners half the audience of Melee though.

Why does it take 5 minutes to button check and pick a stage anyway?

Seems like a good, albeit a bit odd choice of games! Looking forward to it

Kinda new to Evo. First I heard of it was Diago vs Woolie lol, but I would have imagined DOA5 would have made it?

@laflux: I think there's going to be a side tourney or something put on by Team Ninja, but nah, it's not one of EVO's official games. As a fan of the game, it's sad to say, but DOA numbers kinda usually range from terrible to meh both in terms of tournament signups and viewership.