YouTube

From SmashWiki, the Super Smash Bros. wiki

For a list of Smash Bros. YouTubers, seeList of Smash Bros. YouTubers.

YouTube's current logo.

YouTube is a website created for the purpose of sharing and viewing videos on the Internet. It was launched on February 14th, 2005, and bought by Google on 9th October, 2006, bringing it into its current form as one of the most-visited websites on the internet.

Relevance to theSuper Smash Bros. series[edit]

YouTube has played a vital role throughout the history of theSuper Smash Bros. series. Prior to YouTube's creation, the distribution of videos over the internet was a rather difficult process, with netizens often having to use slow, unreliable services to upload and view videos on various websites not necessarily designed to share videos. YouTube's ability to quickly and easily view and upload videos, as well as to discuss them, almost immediately streamlined and increased the distribution of viral videos; later developments to YouTube's services also allowed for more in-depth videos and playlists to be uploaded to the site.

Within the competitiveSmash community, YouTube acts as one of the primary places to uploadtournament matches ormoney matches to the Internet, and for others to watch them. Friendlies between professional smashers have also been uploaded to the site, and some smashers, such asaMSa, also upload technical data and combo videos to the site.

YouTube users have also made instructional videos for aspects of theSuper Smash Bros. games as to assist casual players, such as how to perform certaintechniques such aswavedashing andL-canceling, in addition to game guides on how to complete game modes, such asSubspace Emissary orBreak the Targets. Other miscellanies include the uploading of the music of theSuper Smash Bros. series, reviews, trailers, speculative videos, fan-made animations, and walkthroughs/Let's Play of theSuper Smash Bros. games.

Several Smashers have also used YouTube as either a side venture or a full-time career. For the former, several top players and commentators such asHungrybox andZeRo have amassed hundreds of thousands of subscribers on YouTube for their videos regarding competitive play, their history in the scene, and reactions and discussions regardingSmash and video games as a whole. In addition, YouTube has also been the home of several well-known podcasts, such as Tweek Talks and Lights Out. For the latter, several Smashers have usedSmash to launch or advance their content creation careers, with notable examples includingAlpharad andEtika.

Finally, YouTube has frequently been used as a source to stream events, either as an alternative forTwitch or as a tournament's primary stream. YouTube streaming was most common withJapanese events, though it has since been used by a variety of organizations outside of Japan, such asVGBootCamp andLuminosity Gaming. Likewise, some content creators have used YouTube to stream their content, usually alongside Twitch.

With theupdate to version 1.1.0 inSuper Smash Bros. for Wii U, it was made possible for players to upload theirsaved replays to their YouTube account, something that had previously been only possible at all via methods such as external cameras or various kinds of capture devices. Replays must be no more than about 3 minutes and 14 seconds in length to be uploaded (likely due to the time taken to convert the data into video format, along with taking into account upload speeds for users with slower internet access). Replays will be uploaded in 720p resolution. The upload can also have aMiiverse post made simultaneously. In version 1.1.1, the ability to trim replays into a series of clips and upload it to YouTube was added (although it is impossible to choose which clips get uploaded). Oddly, after uploading is finished and returning to the game, a message will say "Post Canceled" even though it went through. As of the discontinuation of Miiverse on November 8, 2017, uploading replays fromSmash 4 is no longer possible without hacking.

With the update toversion 3.0.0 ofSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate,Shared Content and theSmash World app officially released. Players can upload videos they created with theVideo Editor to these outlets, which will also automatically upload the content to YouTube as an unlisted video. Unlike the previous game, there is no way to directly upload content to a personal YouTube channel in-game. The player must save videos to anSD card and download them to a different device that has access to said personal account.

On August 23, 2022,Masahiro Sakurai launched a personal YouTube channel namedMasahiro Sakurai on Creating Games. The channel is about Sakurai creating short videos about his experiences and advice about game development. There are two versions, one presented in Japanese and the other in English. While this channel is not necessarily about theSmash series, material like game footage and design documents are used extensively, and he has a subseries covering the development of all the games he has directed, including all of theSmash games. The English translation is handled by8-4, a localization company known for translating video game franchises such asDragon Quest,Fire Emblem, andUndertale, asToby Fox has given Masahiro Sakurai contact info of the company.^[1] The intro and outro themes were composed by Yuzo Koshiro.^[2]

Use by Nintendo[edit]

Nintendo itself owns and operates a host of YouTube channels; these channels are used to upload videos concerning developments of Nintendo consoles and games, as well as for advertisements of such ventures. Each branch of Nintendo has its own channel to upload videos dubbed in the local language, and some channels such as Play Nintendo host original videos exclusive to the channel, most of which are designed for children.

There was originally an officialSuper Smash Bros. YouTube channel, which uploaded all of thepromotional character trailers forSuper Smash Bros. 4; the channel was first namedSmashbrosCh, and later renamed toSuper Smash Bros. These videos are still live on YouTube, and claim to be uploaded by Super Smash Bros. However, the channel itself no longer exists, and simply redirects to one of the general Nintendo YouTube accounts.

Both the official sites forSSB4 andUltimate have YouTube videos embedded onto them, most of them being character reveal trailers and Direct clips pertaining toSmash.

WhenNintendo Video went defunct,How to Win at Smash was reuploaded onto the official Nintendo YouTube Channel.

An official YouTube app has been made available as a free download for theWii,Nintendo 3DS,Wii U andNintendo Switch. Like similar YouTube apps on other devices, viewers can watch videos and manage their account through the console with an internet connection. Elements of theSmash series utilize YouTube, such asShared Content and theSmash World app, have the option to transition to YouTube and watch videos on the site, though the corresponding app typically needs to already be downloaded for this to be achieved.

Machinimas[edit]

Wikipedia has an article onMachinima.

Amachinima is the usage of a game to record footage for a video, often with the purpose of producing fan works. Machinimas relating to theSmash Bros. series typically involve recording footage of gameplay, often viaCamera Mode,Replays, or other methods; the resulting footage is then controlled and edited according to a predetermined script or outline in order to create a narrative or story of some sort. YouTube has historically been among the most popular platforms to whichSuper Smash Bros. machinimas are uploaded.

Trivia[edit]

InSuper Smash Bros. for Wii U, when a player uploaded a replay to YouTube, it disabled the player's ability to post screenshots on Miiverse and take screenshots using theWii U's Image Share feature. In order to post screenshots online again, the player was required to restart their game.
Prior to the shutdown, the Miiverse post could be skipped by waiting for the YouTube upload to complete, then exiting back to the game.

References[edit]

^Tracker on Twitter. Twitter (October 1, 2022). Retrieved on October 1, 2022.
^桜井政博 / Masahiro Sakurai on Twitter. Twitter (June 9, 2023). Retrieved on June 9, 2023.