YouTube

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 the Super Smash Bros. series
YouTube has played a vital role throughout the history of the Super Smash Bros. series; prior to YouTube's creation, the distribution of videos over the internet was a rather difficult process, with smashers often having to use slow, unreliable services to upload and view videos. YouTube's ability to quickly and easily view and upload videos, as well as to discuss them, almost immediately increased the distribution of gameplay videos; later developments to YouTube's services also allowed for more in-depth videos and playlists to be uploaded to the site.

Within the competitive community, YouTube acts as one of the primary places to upload tournament battles or money 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 as, also upload technical data and combo videos to the site.

YouTube users have also made instructional videos for aspects of the Super Smash Bros. games as to assist casual players, such as how to perform certain techniques such as wavedashing and L-canceling, in addition to game guides on how to complete game modes, such as Subspace Emissary or Break the Targets. Other miscellanies include the uploading of the music of the Super Smash Bros. series, reviews, trailers, speculative videos, and walkthroughs/ of the Super Smash Bros. games.

With the update to version 1.1.0 in, it was made possible for players to upload their saved 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 a 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 from Smash 4 is no longer possible.

On August 23, 2022, Masahiro Sakurai launched a personal YouTube channel named Masahiro 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 the Smash 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 the Smash games. The English translation is handled by, a localization company known for translating video game franchises such as , , and , as Toby Fox has given Masahiro Sakurai contact info of the company. The intro and outro themes were composed by Yuzo Koshiro.

Use by Nintendo
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 official Super Smash Bros. YouTube channel, which uploaded all of the promotional character trailers for Super Smash Bros. 4; the channel was first named SmashbrosCh, and later renamed to Super 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 Super Smash Bros. 4 Official Site and the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Official Site have YouTube videos embedded onto it, most of them being character reveal trailers and Direct clips pertaining to Smash.

When 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 Wii, Nintendo 3DS, Wii U and Nintendo Switch. Like similar YouTube apps on other devices, viewers can watch videos and manage their account through the console with an internet connection.

Machinimas
A machinima is the usage of a game to record footage for a video, often with the purpose of producing fan works. Machinimas relating to the Smash Bros. series typically involve recording footage of gameplay, often via Camera 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 which Super Smash Bros. machinimas are uploaded.

Trivia

 * In, when a player uploaded a replay to YouTube, it disabled the player's ability to post screenshots on Miiverse and take screenshots using the Wii 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.