CTM is currently operating at a loss. Didion does not work for a living. There is some revenue from Twitch and YouTube, but it is used to compensate community members for restreaming games and other contributions.
CTWC strives for complete realism: all games are played in person (except during the pandemic years) on original NES consoles plugged into CRT televisions. The game is played exactly as it was on the day it was released.
Didion’s unwavering commitment to making the game accessible means that he doesn’t have the luxury of ensuring that everyone has their own NES, CRT, and copy of the game with CTM. Because the tournament is entirely online, he must allow competitors to play with whatever they have. Standardization would be prohibitively expensive.
