Thing is lots of the top players in America only play for money. I know for a fact that some of the best players of Guilty Gear are Americans. Many refuse to enter tournaments that don't have cash prizes.
There are a handful of kids at my school who play Super Smash Brothers in cash tourneys. One guy I know has even gotten invited to a tourney in Vegas (and we live in Ohio! XD). But then again, they've got the insane hours clocked in on SSBM... I wouldn't be willing to put that kind of time into it.
Spudly, you got it mixed up. Some of the best GG players IN America money match almost exclusively. The Koreans and Japs are hella better then us. I don't even think I need to look at this Koreans probably won. Oh wait they did.
Meggo that sounds like EVO but I don't know if EVO invites people or even has SSBM. For those who don't know, EVO is basically the national fighting game championship for the US. It's pretty fucking huge. I think they mighta had Halo 2. Take a look http://www.evo2k.com/ Sorry for the tangent.
Coulda posted more then just the link y'know . And HOLY SHIT LEEROY JENKINS!
My dream is to kick major ass in a Halo tournament, but if you'd see me play online you'd know that my dream shall never be realized. I'm terrible. :brokenhea
Yeah. I too dream of doing something like Daigo in SF3...where I pull off the most badass move available in a game, in front of a roaring crowd and then win it all, and get a wadd of money on top of it...