Super Smash Bros Melee stream: the record breaker that almost never was

Super Smash Bros Melee became the most-watched fighting game in history, according to EVO tournament cofounder Tom Cannon.

The stream, which formed part of the annual fighting game tournament's output, peaked with 130,000 concurrent viewers, although it couldn't hold on to the record for long. A later stream as part of the same event featuring Marvel vs Capcom peaked with around 140,000 concurrent viewers.

Not to detract from the Marvel vs Capcom accomplishment, but the game's achievement comes in the wake of a troubled few days -- Nintendo had initially banned the game from being streamed by the 2013 tournament at all. The company then relented but it was also revealed that Nintendo had attempted to ban Melee not just from being livestreamed but from the competition entirely.

Some commenters have cited the "no such thing as bad publicity" adage in relation to the high figures and the resultant promotion of Nintendo IP as a result. Fighting games expert and cofounder of gaming site Ready Up, Dan Bendon, explains the situation as follows:

"While Smash Bros might not be the most respected of fighting games it does have one of the most dedicated and good natured community followings. They made themselves heard and Nintendo, with a new Smash Bros game recently announced, simply could not ignore them. The resulting controversy both rallied the fans and piqued the interest of many others leading to some outstanding viewing figures and a decisive win for everyone involved."