I have some thoughts on the whole "the game is dead" and "there's gonna be a major shift in viewership" claims I've been seeing lately.

I know a lot of "the game is dead" posts are satire, but I'm sure some people believe it.  The game isn't dead, and it won't be for a long time.  I've also seen a post saying that since Suigi pushed the categories super far, it will be daunting for people to try and beat them, and that they would have to beat all of them to achieve the same thing.  99% of people run SM64 with no intentions or interests in becoming a top runner, let me tell you, we have a LOT of people running this game.  Most people speedrun as a hobby and as something to see improvement at.  It is irrelevant how far away the pros are.  People play basketball for fun.  People play tennis for fun.  People play football for fun.  Hell, even a lot of these people don't even follow the pro scene.  There doesn't need to be an absurd amount of hype at the very top level to keep people interested.

I've told this story many times, but I started watching SM64 in 2014.  I always thought to myself I'd never be able to reach the level of Siglemic, or Puncay, or Cheese.  I didn't start running until 2019, and throughout my speedrunning journey, the goal never was to reach the top. (Until recently, and even then that's a soft goal).  My goal was to have fun, and to improve as much as I could.  If I got bored and quit, then that's fine.  I chipped away at my times, found I loved the hobby, and kept playing.  When I got my 1:47 I still didn't think it was likely I'd ever bop Sig's 1:43:53.  Same with my 1:46.  Once I got to 1:45 I could start seeing it and pushed for it.  Then I got it, and kept going.  I never set my sights on goals super far away, because that's stupid.  It is completely irrelevant that Suigi has increased the gap to my PB to nearly two minutes.  Who cares.  I'm going for my next PB, the next minute barrier, and I'll keep doing that, and if I eventually get WR, cool.  There are hundreds of viewers who watch because they like the people and they like seeing progress.  These people typically gravitate towards the better players, but it isn't exclusively WR contenders.  I can reach upwards of 500 viewers when I'm on a run and I'm two minutes off WR!  I highly doubt that people will decline to pick this game up because WR is so hard to beat.  It's been that way forever, and people still picked it up.

We also have an insanely large and active community.  People are constantly putting on tournaments and showcases and more and involving so much of the community.  Most of these aren't even for top level players!  Hell, the last 120 race tourney I was able to take part in was in 2021!  But there have been TONS of low and mid level tournaments that get people excited and playing.  A lot of our top players are pretty involved with the community, and will continue to be, as new players are always reaching the top.  I think the only way we can see a huge hit to the community is if multiple top runners (Cheese, Simply, Liam, Puncay, Weegee, Suigi) all retired at the same time soon, and left the community all together.  The top players are pretty important in helping shine spotlight on the up and comers.  Most people don't scour the directory looking for new people, they find new people by being raided into them.  Honestly, in this regard, all those 24/7 channels are doing more harm than Suigi ever could by improving the WR, as top players are raiding into their 24/7 channels instead of other community members.  Regardless, we have tons of talent on the come up that can surpass the OGs and build hype around them.  I know I've been grinding hard to push myself to 1:35 and beyond, and I have a full-time stream schedule.  My stream is just going to continue to grow as I get closer to the top, and will become a reliable rock on the community.  I'm sure others will follow as well.  I and others need a bit more time to get there, but there's no way all the top runners are going to bail before I get there.  The game is too competitive and active for the torch to not be passed on.  Keyword on competitive, because that doesn't just apply to WR.  1:37 and 1:36 are full of players who are active and all trying to bop each other.  It may be a bit away from record, but we will get there, especially since it is easier to follow and copy than it is to trailblaze.  It's been proven possible.  We know how and why it happened.  All people need to do is what has been already been done.

I also don't believe age of the game is a significant factor.  You could argue that there will be less people coming in because they didn't grow up with the game.  Well, tons of people never played until they started speedrunning, and with Nintendo rereleasing SM64 twice in the past few years, there still will be plenty of people who are growing up now who will eventually find speedrunning and get into it.  This is an unbelievably simple game to get into, and extraordinarily complex to master.  There are insane amounts of resources and people willing to help with whatever you are trying to accomplish.  The game's difficulty is pretty linear in the regard that you are constantly being challenged, but it never jumps in difficulty like crazy.  It is simply a long road to the top, and even then, people have gotten there quickly.  There are a few people who have gotten 1:39 and are capable of better in only a year of playing.  That's huge.  That tells me there won't be a dip in people who are reaching the top as people can reach it in an honestly shocking amount of time.

Also, with SM64, there is actually so much to do.  I've daydreamed about being at the top, pulling tons of viewers, and just having so many projects.  Let's try to improve 120 WR by a second.  Let's try to get X time without LBLJ.  Let's go for WR across all platforms.  Let's sweep category extensions.  Let's get all stage RTA WRs.  Let's go down the Ultimate sheet and provide videos for each row that are clean, have misc timer, and input display.  Let's make guides, and resources, and random challenges.  There is actually so fucking much you can do if you want to do it.  As long as the game doesn't get boring, I can see myself keeping myself occupied and being able to turn it into context very easily.  Just look at ZFG for example.  Constantly doing a bunch of different things, picking up projects, experimenting with stuff, having fun.  People like that.  Having people around like that also shines light on the up and comers, and it cycles itself.

Obviously there is no way to know for certain how our community is going to end up.  There's no way to know for certain what the WRs are going to be pushed to.  There's no way to know for certain if people will keep coming in.  But in my opinion, there is a very good chance we thrive for a long ass time.  I'm hoping for at least 15 more years, and for the time that I'm here, I will be doing stuff that helps the community thrive.

Dunno how to end this so deuces.