Everyone on the MLG crew is hard at work wrapping up all of the preparation for the first Pro Circuit event of the 2010 season down in Orlando this weekend. We’re really pulling out all the stops this year, and we’ve added a lot into the mix. One of the things I’m personally most excited about is the return of the Smash series to the Pro Circuit with Brawl. The world’s best players will be there, and I can’t wait to see the Smash community continue their strong tradition of creating some of the most thrilling events in the league’s history.

We of course know that the Smash community is just as excited as we are to follow the tournament and see who makes their mark on the biggest stage in gaming, and we’re committed to doing everything we can to make our coverage of the tournament as comprehensive as possible. However, I’m sorry to say that we will not be able to have a live stream for Smash in Orlando this weekend. In order to stream something like this, we have to secure live streaming rights from the game’s publisher. And despite our best efforts, we have not been able to get permission from Nintendo thus far. We kept the conversation going all the way down to the wire, in hopes that we’d get an 11th hour approval and could still stream the event, but unfortunately it didn’t happen.

I know this is disappointing news, and believe me – we don’t like it either. There’s just no way around it. A company of our size simply has to play by the rules. I know a lot of you guys have seen local Smash tournaments streamed online and are probably wondering why we can’t just do the same thing. The answer is because we are a real company with real visibility and real things to lose. We can’t fly under the radar like a local tournament can (nor would we want to).

While we won’t be able to stream Brawl in Orlando, you have my personal guarantee that we will continue to pursue streaming rights from Nintendo in hopes of being able to stream future events this season. In the meantime, we will be covering the Smash event this weekend from start to finish and beyond. Here is a preview of what’s in store:

• Live blog bringing you up-to-the-minute score updates and stories from the floor
• A bracket allowing you to follow your favorite players through the competition
• Photo galleries
• News articles recapping the best matches of the tournament
• Post-event coverage including recaps, interviews, and more

I also wanted to quickly talk about Video on Demand. We will be capturing video from matches over the course of the tournament. However, this falls into the same category as the live stream. Whether we will be able to release this footage is at the sole discretion of Nintendo. Obviously we’d love to release it and will be working hard to ensure we can.

I’m sorry to have to bring you this news, but rest assured that I will update you if or when the situation changes. Thanks for your understanding, and I look forward to kicking off the season with you this weekend from Orlando.

- Sundance