I had to go to work immediately following the Direct and then fly to Boston the next morning, so I didn't get to participate in the discussion, but here are some quick thoughts:
- The hype was absolutely, completely real. What a fantastic Direct.
- Sakurai was doing some intense trolling and it was glorious. The Pseudo-Palutena trophy and Waluigi doll were just the best.
- Mega Man's Final Smash is too fucking hype. It's just too much. I'm only one man, Sakurai... have mercy.
- At first I saw the Greninja reveal at the end as kind of a letdown, but then I watched the trailer a couple more times and I'm pretty hyped for it. A neat, if entirely unexpected choice. Does make me start seriously wondering about Mewtwo's chances of returning, though...
- I feel like standalone Charizard pretty much means Pokémon Trainer is cut, and I'm not confident about Squirtle and Ivysaur's chances either. I won't particularly miss any of them, but yeah, I think they're gone. Ivysaur MIGHT have a shot since he's a Grass-type, but Greninja seems to make Squirtle completely superfluous.
- I could not be happier that transformation characters are now separate. Zelda was my second-best in Brawl, and I'm absolutely thrilled to finally have her as a full character without a special being "wasted" on her Sheik transformation. (I'm sure there's a much bigger number of Sheik players who feel the same way, just the other way around.)
- Very happy to finally see Yoshi confirmed, and I'm looking forward to seeing how different he feels to play!
- 60 FPS even in stereoscopic 3D for the 3DS version is amazing. Sakurai is just ridiculous.
- Only two songs per stage in the 3DS version seems a bit limited, but for me one of the best moments of the Direct was the confirmation of My Music returning for the Wii U version. However, Sakurai made it sound like a ton (maybe even the majority) of the music will be pulled from Brawl and other past games. I really hope that isn't the case, and it's probably not, but I did find the wording a little suspect.
- I 100% did not expect Elec Man as the (a?) Mega Man Assist Trophy, but I'm totally down with it. He looks great, and the Thunder Beam fires up and down just like it should!
- Really great idea for each stage to have a Final Destination form, but the whole "For Glory" and "For Fun" crap is ridiculous. You can be competitive on non-FD stages and with items on, though Sakurai did at least get the idea that FD-only, no-item matches aren't fun correct. Definitely an unfortunate attempt to cater to always-unappreciate "hardcore" community, though.
- Balloon Fight is suddenly a handheld game? Wha?
- Between the new leak from the same guy who leaked Wii Fit Trainer, Mega Man, etc. and the Pseudo-Palutena trophy, I'm 100% certain Palutena is in.
- I'm less certain about Ridley. The shadow thing and the fact that he didn't outright show Ridley as a boss in Pyrosphere was weird, but it does seem like he didn't make the cut again. It's no skin off my back as I'm not a Ridley fan, but if he indeed is not in, my condolences to RidleyGAF.
- If that leaker is indeed 100% legit with all his claims, I'm so hyped for the Chorus Men it's not even funny.
- The only veteran I really, really want to see confirmed to return at this point is Ness (all my other returning vet wishes like Zelda, Sonic, and Toon Link have already been fulfilled). I'm not really worried about him yet, but not seeing him or Captain Falcon in this Direct was kind of disappointing.
- I'm selfishly excited to be playing Smash 3DS this summer, but damn if Nintendo isn't determined to kick the Wii U in the shins at every opportunity it can. In no way does this situation help the Wii U even a little bit. I'm buying both versions day one of course, but I'm pretty sure this won't be the case with the majority of the audience.
- I'm loving the overall abundance of items, Assist Trophies, and Pokémon this time around. It's almost insane how many items are making an appearance in this game, and the Namco ones shown in the press screens are so cool!
- I'm thinking no more characters this month, one veteran in May, and 3-4 newcomers and a couple veterans in June for E3.
- Assuming most Brawl veterans aren't being cut, we could be looking at a seriously large roster, a much bigger one than I'd guessed at first. I assumed no more than 45 characters, but it's starting to look like I might be wrong about that.
TL;DR - In my veins. Need it. Now.