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[The Dutch Slayer]

Did not expect this at all :O

Very surprising.

Was thinking first footage was at E3 and playable, and late 2014 release, now not so sure about that any more.

 

[DR2K]

Well hopefully this hype train goes somewhere.

 

[Shadowlink]

Should be an exciting Tuesday next week. Hope we get some unexpected character announcements.

 

[Mushroomer25]

Do you think a beta of some sorts would be possible? I know Nintendo's never really done one before, but Smash feels like it could benefit. It'd have all the hype driving power of a demo, but wouldn't cut into full retail sales. One weekend, perhaps in June, with a limited roster, local multiplayer, and millions of matches to observe for balance purposes. Nintendo finally has the online infrastructure to make it happen. Now, will they?

 

[Shadowlink]

Do you think a beta of some sorts would be possible? I know Nintendo's never really done one before, but Smash feels like it could benefit. It'd have all the hype driving power of a demo, but wouldn't cut into full retail sales. One weekend, perhaps in June, with a limited roster, local multiplayer, and millions of matches to observe for balance purposes. Nintendo finally has the online infrastructure to make it happen. Now, will they?

I wouldn't mind if they did that. Especially if the beta was for Wii U only, it can probably sell systems earlier before the release.

 

[CriterionDog]

If they did a demo it'd be the best thing ever. They would probably only have Mario, Link, Kirby, Pikachu, Pit, Megaman and the Villager available. I doubt they'd want people to try all the characters?

 

[Mariolee]

Please reveal more alternate costumes. Please please please.

 

[Shadowlink]

Please reveal more alternate costumes. Please please please.

Would be a good way to bring back Dr. Mario.

Spoiler

Bring back Dr. Mario!

 

[Neiteio]

Please Sakurai!

Simon Belmont's inclusion would mean music by Michiru Yamane AND Óscar Araujo, as well as completing the trio from Captain N (Simon, Mega Man and Pit), so...

I second this motion by Councilman Trago. *adjusts imaginary glasses*

 

[Freezie KO]

A Smash Direct? What in the what? And so soon after they lifted a Mario Kart embargo? Normally Nintendo is myopically focused on the next big title.

I don't understand the strategy here, but I think I like it.

 

[GamerJM]

Hype time. Let's go.

 

[Neiteio]

A Smash Direct? What in the what? And so soon after they lifted a Mario Kart embargo?

I don't understand the strategy here, but I think I like it.

Think of the people who are tempted to purchase a WiiU for MK8 due to the recent round of hype. A fresh round of hype for Smash might be enough to get many of those people to pull the trigger and purchase the system, since it goes from being a "good purchase in May" to a "good purchase now and in the long run."

If nothing else, this will accomplish that. But I do wonder if there's something more. For example, a SSB demo timed to coincide with the release of MK8 could make some real noise.

 

[Freezie KO]

Think of the people who are tempted to purchase a WiiU for MK8 due to the recent round of hype. A fresh round of hype for Smash might be enough to get many of those people to pull the trigger and purchase the system, since it goes from being a "good purchase in May" to a "good purchase now and in the long run."

If nothing else, this will accomplish that. But I do wonder if there's something more. For example, a SSB demo timed to coincide with the release of MK8 could make some real noise.

Yeah. Nintendo usually just focuses on the next big game, so this is a nice shake-up for them.

I also assumed Smash would come in the pre-holiday season, so I'm also surprised they're doing this now, as opposed to E3.

 

[Thores]

My predictions:

• 1-3 first party veterans (Yoshi, Wario, Ganondorf?)
• Snake
• 1 newcomer (Mii or Palutena)
• Some early details on the customization options in the 3DS version. If Mii is announced, it will be a customizable character.
• Release month announced, it'll be the same month globally.
• Wild Guess: The direct will end with a second newcomer trailer that either few people were expecting or that Nintendo thinks would generate a lot of excitement. I think they're saving Pac-Man for E3, but maybe something like Bayonetta or Ridley. This is the scenario I expect the least.

 

[AdanVC]

This means the Direct would be hosted by Sakurai itself, right? It's nice to see him on camera. It's on his 40's and he looks like if it was 22 years old. Dat Smash Bros strees works wonders to keep it look young haha. Hope he is feeling better of his shoulder pains tough

 

[Kjellson]

Unless anyone has a screenshot, I'm pretty sure that was just made up.

That's just mean.

I would do anything for Wonder-Red.

 

[Misuta]

LOL these 2 are killing me even more.

Rofl. That's amazing, especially the first one. XD

 

[PfantzyPantz]

Super hype, didn't expect this at all.

#teamLucina #teamRidley, let's gooooo

Actually got inspired to finish this thing I started back when ssb4 was announced, represent!

Spoiler

yes thats supposed to be ridley, I got lazy

 

[IntelliHeath]

LOL these 2 are killing me even more.

I can really see that final smash happening for Hades if he got in.

 

[Kyzon]

Would be a good way to bring back Dr. Mario.

Spoiler

Bring back Dr. Mario!

I was thinking they should have alts, and give alts pallet swaps and different attributes. That way you get Dr. Mario and he'll throw pills and have his electric palm thingy as well as Mario. They should be on the same slot of course.

 

[Blues1990]

I'm suiting up for this, folks. Let the hype flow through my veins.

 

[phanphare]

Do you think a beta of some sorts would be possible? I know Nintendo's never really done one before, but Smash feels like it could benefit. It'd have all the hype driving power of a demo, but wouldn't cut into full retail sales. One weekend, perhaps in June, with a limited roster, local multiplayer, and millions of matches to observe for balance purposes. Nintendo finally has the online infrastructure to make it happen. Now, will they?

this would be so smart. I would imagine that even just a beta for Smash Bros. would sell a handful of Wii U's. I can only imagine how many "I was gonna get it later anyway. may as well have it for the Smash beta" impulse buys there would be

 

[fredrancour]

My predictions:

• 1-3 first party veterans (Yoshi, Wario, Ganondorf?)
• Snake
• 1 newcomer (Mii or Palutena)
• Some early details on the customization options in the 3DS version. If Mii is announced, it will be a customizable character.
• Release month announced, it'll be the same month globally.
• Wild Guess: The direct will end with a second newcomer trailer that either few people were expecting or that Nintendo thinks would generate a lot of excitement. I think they're saving Pac-Man for E3, but maybe something like Bayonetta or Ridley. This is the scenario I expect the least.

God I hope not. Maybe I should go post this idea in the "What would make e3 a failure?" thread.

I don't know why the idea of pacman in smash fills me with such psychotic dislike, but it does.

 

[GiantBreadbug]

I don't know why so many people are vehemently rooting against Pac Man. The dude is awesome.

If it were any other fighting game made by any other person, I'd agree. But it's Sakurai. He'll turn Pac Man into something amazing.

 

[Jumpman23]

I really hope the WiiU gets a significant sales boost from this game. The library is already pretty decent and is only getting better as time goes by.

 

[Revven]

Please reveal more alternate costumes. Please please please.

Prediction: WFT, Wario, and Villager will be the only ones with alts.

The "clones" have different moves and stats though, a simple costume change between Ness and Lucas wouldn't be the same as having both characters in the game, they play completely differently, just like Ike and Marth and Roy or Link and Toon Link all play differently. I assume Fox/Falco/Wolf are the same, though I have no experience playing any of them.

Fox, Falco, and Wolf all play entirely different from one another. You can't play them the same at all (especially in Melee between Fox and Falco).

no what i mean is instead of wasting 3 character slots on falco, wolf, and fox you just make falco and wolf skins for fox. they can even keep the color changes and just have it as different options.

less "clones" more variety

Stop this mentality. Clones add to the roster size, they add, they don't take anything away. If clones didn't exist, Smash's roster would be significantly smaller. I'd rather have Falco and Wolf in the game than not at all if it means they are "cloned" from Fox. (And Wolf is hardly even a clone to begin with). Completely different characters as alternate costumes? You're nuts.

Anyone with this mentality is just mad their favorite character didn't get in and is using this as a reason to scapegoat the reality that Sakurai just didn't deem that character worth adding to the roster. It's the same as those who try to find reasons why a character shouldn't be in the game -- it's selfish and downright pretty ignorant to say that clones are bad for the game. I won't be surprised if Ganondorf is a "clone" of Captain Falcon again, either.

Also, I would argue clones add just as much variety as new and unique move sets do. "How!?" Because they require you to play them differently from the character they are cloned from -- the original character could be more defensive oriented while the "cloned" character could be played more offensively, what makes it interesting is that it's almost entirely the same move set aesthetically but despite that the moves themselves are different to allow for you to play that "clone" differently from the original. Clones have as much place in the game as unique and new characters do. The literal best part of clones is that they add to the game, period. They are quick and easy to make.

As long as there's a good balance of new and old, you won't be mad, I won't be mad, and everyone will be happy.

 

[Freezie KO]

Super hype, didn't expect this at all.

#teamLucina #teamRidley, let's gooooo



Actually got inspired to finish this thing I started back when ssb4 was announced, represent!

Spoiler

yes thats supposed to be ridley, I got lazy

Creative pic. I'm definitely on #teamLucina and #teamPalutena. Anyone who wants Robin over Lucina is clearly corrupted by Grima.

 

[IntelliHeath]

Prediction: WFT, Wario, and Villager will be the only ones with alts.

I agreed but I would like to see Pokemon Trainer to get female alt as well.

Stop this mentality. Clones add to the roster size, they add, they don't take anything away. If clones didn't exist, Smash's roster would be significantly smaller. I'd rather have Falco and Wolf in the game than not at all if it means they are "cloned" from Fox. (And Wolf is hardly even a clone to begin with). Completely different characters as alternate costumes? You're nuts.

Anyone with this mentality is just mad their favorite character didn't get in and is using this as a reason to scapegoat the reality that Sakurai just didn't deem that character worth adding to the roster. It's the same as those who try to find reasons why a character shouldn't be in the game -- it's selfish and downright pretty ignorant to say that clones are bad for the game. I won't be surprised if Ganondorf is a "clone" of Captain Falcon again, either.

Also, I would argue clones add just as much variety as new and unique move sets do. "How!?" Because they require you to play them differently from the character they are cloned from -- the original character could be more defensive oriented while the "cloned" character could be played more offensively, what makes it interesting is that it's almost entirely the same move set aesthetically but despite that the moves themselves are different to allow for you to play that "clone" differently from the original. Clones have as much place in the game as unique and new characters do.

Exactly. Sakurai mentioned that he faced a decision that he had to make for Melee. King Dedede vs 6 clones. He went with 6 clones to beef up the roster.

Clones isn't that bad as people are making it out. I meant I would be happy if they are going to add Toon Zelda, Medusa, etc to beef up the roster.

 

[Spring-Loaded]

Has sakurai ever said whether there's a roster size limit? has he said anything about the inclusion of clones in regards to roster limits?

 

[Broritos]

guiz guiz. what if they go the gameandwatch route with pacman and pacman is a 2D sprite?

aw ye

 

[Scooter155]

@Revven

That's what I meant, that as far as I know Wolf/Falco/Fox are the same as Ness/Lucas and Link/Toon Link in that they may look a little alike but they all play very differently, so "clones" doesn't really apply. Thanks for backing me up!

 

[Mlatador]

Dang, even K-Pop Gaf is on board!

 

[Toxi]

Super hype, didn't expect this at all.

#teamLucina #teamRidley, let's gooooo

Actually got inspired to finish this thing I started back when ssb4 was announced, represent!

Spoiler

yes thats supposed to be ridley, I got lazy

Spoiler

Awesome art nonetheless

 

[theprodigy]

I agreed but I would like to see Pokemon Trainer to get female alt as well.



Exactly. Sakurai mentioned that he faced a decision that he had to make for Melee. King Dedede vs 6 clones. He went with 6 clones to beef up the roster.

Clones isn't that bad as people are making it out. I meant I would be happy if they are going to add Toon Zelda, Medusa, etc to beef up the roster.

So what you're saying is Melee could have had only 20 characters?
lol

 

[Azure J]

So what you're saying is Melee could have had only 20 characters?
lol

Not only that, but Ganondorf wouldn't have happened at all for Melee.

Ganondorf.

 

[PfantzyPantz]

Spoiler

Awesome art nonetheless

Spoiler

They said he was too big for a reason

Haha but yeah, I noticed that way too late into the drawing, danke

 

[NeonZ]

This has been discussed a lot. Changing the costumes, like in the instance of pikachu/raichu changes the character itself, which i believe sakurai has said he is opposed to (citation needed). If the 'costume' is literally the same character (wario, for example), then it's fine. We could get Dr. mario and mario as skin changes, since they're both literally mario. We won't get falco as a skin for fox though, since they're 2 different people.

Although we likely won't get multiple model changes for each character, I think pallets like Peach's Daisy colors (with different hair color), Captain Falcon with Blood Falcon's emblem and Dark Link show pretty clearly that Sakurai isn't worried about skins representing different characters. Sakurai based Uprising's Dark Pit on a pallet swap from Brawl too.

It just hasn't been done so far because Smash's only real alternate costume was Wario's. If we get alternate costumes as a more widespread feature this time (like the Male Wii Fit trainer seemed to suggest), I wouldn't be surprised if we got more characters represented like that, through costumes (and voice changes, if the Wii Fit trainer is really a costume) of other characters. However, there's no way that we'd get one completely new model for each color. A more likely possibility is something like Wario in Brawl. One per character, with each model having its own colors.

no what i mean is instead of wasting 3 character slots on falco, wolf, and fox you just make falco and wolf skins for fox. they can even keep the color changes and just have it as different options.

Clones don't take as much development time and resources as completely new characters anyway though, especially not the clones which reuse almost their entire animation set (like all clones in Melee and Toon Link in Brawl).

Alternate costumes also have other limitations, like how you couldn't really make Raichu a Pikachu costume, because Raichu needs to be bigger. The hitboxes wouldn't match.

 

[Kid Ska]

I don't know why so many people are vehemently rooting against Pac Man. The dude is awesome.

If it were any other fighting game made by any other person, I'd agree. But it's Sakurai. He'll turn Pac Man into something amazing.

I just want to see his final smash where he turns all of the other fighters into blue ghosts.

 

[gashikunFLCL]

Cho cho chooooooo! Hype Train here we come.

 

[theprodigy]

Not only that, but Ganondorf wouldn't have happened at all for Melee.

Ganondorf.

which 6 characters anyway
I'm guessing Falco, Roy, Dr. Mario, Ganondorf, Pichu, and Young Link

 

[IntelliHeath]

So what you're saying is Melee could have had only 20 characters?
lol

Yep.

Dr. Mario, Falco, Pichu, Young Link, Ganondorf and Roy

Not only that, but Ganondorf wouldn't have happened at all for Melee.

Ganondorf.

GANONDORF!!!!!!

 

[Toxi]

Although we likely won't get multiple model changes for each character, I think pallets like Peach's Daisy colors (with different hair color), Captain Falcon with Blood Falcon's emblem and Dark Link show pretty clearly that Sakurai isn't worried about skins representing different characters. Sakurai basically based Uprising's Dark Pit on a pallet swap from Brawl too.

It just hasn't been done so far because Smash's only real alternate costume was Wario's. If we get alternate costumes as a more widespread feature this time (like the Male Wii Fit trainer seemed to suggest), I wouldn't be surprised if we got more characters represented like that, through costumes (and voice changes, if the Wii Fit trainer is really a costume) of other characters. However, there's no way that we'd get one completely new model for each color. A more likely possibility is something like Wario in Brawl. One per character, with each model having its own colors.

Samus is a gold mine for awesome alternate costumes. Dark Suit, Light Suit, PED, Fusion Suit, Dark Samus, traditional Super Metroid or Prime series look...

Spoiler

They said he was too big for a reason

Damn it. Now whenever I see a Ridley joke I'm going to associate it with innuendo.

Also, question from someone who hasn't played a game with Lucina; isn't she supposed to be imitating Marth? How would she fight differently?

 

[foxuzamaki]

Smash doesnt have the history that pokemon has...so dont think they can do something of that extent

maybe

Smash is only a few years younger than pokemon really

 

[aceface]

Oh there's a direct coming up in September? Neat.

Spoiler

yes I know Europe writes dates like this

 

[Watch Da Birdie]

I thought by E3 we'd know the starting roster, but now I think they'll reveal the rest of the starting dudes through a new CG cinematic, and then show off the Character Select screen.

The E3 Trailer gave us 9 Veterans, and two newcomers, I could see that being true here.

Yoshi, Falcon, Ness, Wario, Ice Climbers, Pokemon Trainer, Meta Knight, R.O.B., and Zero Suit Samus as the veterans.

Takamaru or Palutena as the newcomer.

And Pac-Man as the 3rd Party.

 

[ShinRPGamer]

I thought by E3 we'd know the starting roster, but now I think they'll reveal the rest of the starting dudes through a new CG cinematic, and then show off the Character Select screen.

The E3 Trailer gave us 9 Veterans, and two newcomers, I could see that being true here.

Yoshi, Falcon, Ness, Wario, Ice Climbers, Pokemon Trainer, Meta Knight, R.O.B., and Zero Suit Samus as the veterans.

Takamaru or Palutena as the newcomer.

And Pac-Man as the 3rd Party.

You are only expecting disappointment if you think that's what's going to happen.

 

[Omzz]

Smash is only a few years younger than pokemon really

well i mean just how much can they talk about 3 games? Pokemon had 5 gens to cover in their direct. so obviously much more to talk about in comparison to the smash series

 

[Thores]

Also, question from someone who hasn't played a game with Lucina; isn't she supposed to be imitating Marth? How would she fight differently?

She only dresses up to look like him. She fights more like her father.

Spoiler

And her father fights like Ike.

 

[BinaryPork2737]

LOL these 2 are killing me even more.

These are amazing.

 

[C.Olimar788]

I suspect the Direct will be focused primarily on game features - modes, changes to structure, that customization thing for the 3DS version, things like that. We haven't heard really anything about that, so a Direct would be a perfect time to make the skeptics have a reason to buy the new Smash outside of just new characters.

It'll definitely have at least one newcomer, and I'd be surprised if we didn't also get a few veterans announced. Yoshi, Wario or even Snake would be good guesses. Newcomers-wise, I think they might decide to open with a newcomer and close with a newcomer to keep hype up - good openers would be characters like Mii or Palutena, who are exciting but not incredibly hyped, and closers should be either a new third party character (Pac-Man, Bayonetta?), a highly-hyped and demanded Nintendo character (Ridley, Mewtwo) or something that's a bit out of left field and would be unexpected to most (Wonder Red, Takamaru, someone no one will see coming...).

I'm definitely with those that think we'll see a release date, too, though I still think it'll be Holiday 2014. They might give a month instead of a specific date - maybe November 2014?

Either way, I'm sure the Direct will be a blast.