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[Green Mamba]

thinking back on the whole 'difficult task' thing and looking at upcoming nintendo games... does anyone think Sakurai would actually consider removing Midna as an Assist Trophy and promoting her to playable? It would go well with the 'wolf link' amiibo and be an interesting way of celebrating/promoting Twilight Princess HD.

Considering every single DLC character so far hasn't been a cross-promotion thing yet and that Midna isn't anywhere near popular enough to warrant a newcomer at this stage in development I don't think that's even a little bit likely.

Plus, every Smash character so far has been getting their own Smash amiibo--if anything the Wolf Link amiibo would harm those chances more than they help. Why would Midna of all people get two amiibos at this point when several more well known characters have yet to get one?

EDIT: I've said it in another topic, but I don't anticipate any second or third string characters from already represented series to be included as DLC at all. Characters like Palutena and Robin would never be DLC on their own--they do a good job of filling a newcomer roster in the base game but DLC characters have to sell on their own. Newcomers will be like Ryu and Cloud, massive icons in their own right (hell they could be the only two). The rest of DLC will be veterans who require comparatively less work and already have a foot in the Smash door.

 

[TheDinoman]

EDIT: I've said it in another topic, but I don't anticipate any second or third string characters from already represented series to be included as DLC at all. Characters like Palutena and Robin would never be DLC on their own--they do a good job of filling a newcomer roster in the base game but DLC characters have to sell on their own. Newcomers will be like Ryu and Cloud, massive icons in their own right (hell they could be the only two). The rest of DLC will be veterans who require comparatively less work and already have a foot in the Smash door.

That kinda makes me curious who the last two characters left will be.

These are the four possible options:

Cloud, Wolf, Snake
Cloud, Wolf, a newcomer
Cloud, Snake, a newcomer
Cloud, a newcomer, a newcomer

I can't see us getting three newcomers in one go like that so I highly doubt the last one, so it's up to the other three then. If we get a newcomer, then I'm sure Wolf will be the veteran, but if we get another returning character alongside him, I think it'd have to be Snake, unless they REALLY want to end on a low note with someone like Pichu.

 

[Geminosity]

Considering every single DLC character so far hasn't been a cross-promotion thing yet and that Midna isn't anywhere near popular enough to warrant a newcomer at this stage in development I don't think that's even a little bit likely.

Plus, every Smash character so far has been getting their own Smash amiibo--if anything the Wolf Link amiibo would harm those chances more than they help. Why would Midna of all people get two amiibos at this point when several more well known characters have yet to get one?

EDIT: I've said it in another topic, but I don't anticipate any second or third string characters from already represented series to be included as DLC at all. Characters like Palutena and Robin would never be DLC on their own--they do a good job of filling a newcomer roster in the base game but DLC characters have to sell on their own. Newcomers will be like Ryu and Cloud, massive icons in their own right (hell they could be the only two). The rest of DLC will be veterans who require comparatively less work and already have a foot in the Smash door.

Well, technically she doesn't have an amiibo, that's the 'wolf link' amiibo
I'm curious that people think vets are less work: considering how much they've tinkered with the returning folk except mewtwo they'd almost be as much effort and resources as a newcomer anyhoo. Outside of the starting point of the concept of their original moveset and re-used audio files they're pretty much made from scratch :3

I guess I should set myself up for disappointment; any thought of a female character in DLC outside of Inkling seems unlikely anyways ¬.¬
(Though I'd actually be pretty darn happy with Inkling if they do make it, it's just nice to have more than one horse to realistically bet on)

edit:

That kinda makes me curious who the last two characters left will be.

These are the four possible options:

Cloud, Wolf, Snake
Cloud, Wolf, a newcomer
Cloud, Snake, a newcomer
Cloud, a newcomer, a newcomer

I can't see us getting three newcomers in one go like that so I highly doubt the last one, so it's up to the other three then. If we get a newcomer, then I'm sure Wolf will be the veteran, but if we get another returning character alongside him, I think it'd have to be Snake, unless they REALLY want to end on a low note with someone like Pichu.

Not that you can't be correct on this, but you're kind of assuming we know that we're getting 3 characters. We may get more. I'd be surprised if we got less though, admittedly
3 isn't an unreasonable guess though, using the previous 'batch' as the measure, but the fact they talked about the direct telling us the 'schedule' for the DLC sounds suspicious to me.

 

[Geminosity]

Ah fubble... I meant to edit this into my post above

 

[Green Mamba]

Conceptualizing a new character is a lot more work than I think people give it credit. Mewtwo was essentially made from scratch, but his actual blueprint was already completed thirteen years ago. And Roy, while heavily altered, is pretty clearly built upon Marth's base, and Lucas is like frame for frame repurposed from Brawl. So no, veterans are not anywhere near equivalent to newcomers I would think.

And honestly, at this point, Inkling is the only newcomer that could really meet the standards of what I laid out, so I really don't know what is going to happen. Wolf seems almost assured just by process of elimination at this point, but I don't know what form the third character will take at all. But, uh, probably not Midna.

 

[TheDinoman]

Not that you can't be correct on this, but you're kind of assuming we know that we're getting 3 characters. We may get more. I'd be surprised if we got less though, admittedly
3 isn't an unreasonable guess though, using the previous 'batch' as the measure, but the fact they talked about the direct telling us the 'schedule' for the DLC sounds suspicious to me.

I'm basing that assumption mostly off of this: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1119400

 

[stan423321]

“They”? Independent games aren’t a series, a company, or even a genre. They’re just low budget, self-published games. Why does something so abstract necessitate a playable character? At the end of the day, Shovel Knight is a third-party character, not an “indie rep.” And as a third-party character, Shovel Knight is not a big deal. It took decades of history and tens of millions of sales for Metal Gear, Sonic, Pac-Man, Mega Man, Street Fighter, and Final Fantasy to get into Smash Bros., so why on Earth would the brand new Shovel Knight get a free pass? It doesn’t make any sense to me. We know Sakurai takes third-parties very seriously given how selective he is, and I can't see him squandering it all by including Shovel Knight.

Honestly the same objections you raise against indie games as a category could be raised about Nintendo's "retro" representatives. They aren't a series or a genre, and while they're from the same company, that's somewhat not the point. They still have a certain "taste" to them, even if the only reason for that is us not seeing them evolve.

The phenomenon is a little too new to be thrown in because we aren't really able to recognize what it is yet, but indie games are distinct from regularly published ones somewhat. While I see many reasons to ignore Shovel Knight, this one doesn't sound right to me.

 

[Geminosity]

Conceptualizing a new character is a lot more work than I think people give it credit. Mewtwo was essentially made from scratch, but his actual blueprint was already completed thirteen years ago. And Roy, while heavily altered, is pretty clearly built upon Marth's base, and Lucas is like frame for frame repurposed from Brawl. So no, veterans are not anywhere near equivalent to newcomers I would think.

And honestly, at this point, Inkling is the only newcomer that could really meet the standards of what I laid out, so I really don't know what is going to happen. Wolf seems almost assured just by process of elimination at this point, but I don't know what form the third character will take at all. But, uh, probably not Midna.

I probably give them more credit than you realise :3
While I haven't worked on smash, in the projects I did work on where we had to bring the characters over from previous builds, the largest time investment for a new character was usually concepting (visual). Battle planning/balancing took a little longer on a new versus 'kept' design (which would still need tweaking/looking over to ensure it kept pace with any changes) but not enough for management to ever prioritise an older design over replacing it with a new one if it did the job better. Considering that smash is about using already existing characters it would seem to me that the most time consuming part for other games is probably cut down considerably for smash.
Of course, this is entirely me extrapolating from my own anecdotal experience and I could be way off the mark ~shrug~

I'm not really sure the DLC all has to be cloud level either. You could argue that the previous pack had 1 'hard hitter' in the form of Ryu and the two others were supporting acts. They might've been veterans but I don't think they were likely added out of 'laziness' but rather the team banking on players of the series having some emotional investment in them... else we'd have got Pichu already as one of the easiest 'clones' to bring over The idea of having a headliner in each pack with some lighter-weight characters fleshing it out would make sense, in many ways I'd argue you've been thinking along these lines by assuming they'd pack out the numbers with veterans anyhoo :3

 

[Neiteio]

This isn't a character I want, but Paper Mario seems like a possibility.

He's part of the Mario brand, so he'd sell by default (possibly part of the reason they went with Mario-themed stage DLC like Peach's Castle 64 and Mario Maker, aside from the tie-in for the latter). He also gets new games on a regular basis (most recently Sticker Star and Paper Jam), and Sakurai could get really creative with his move-set — rolling him up into a tube, turning him into a paper airplane or sailboat, using stickers, calling in partner characters, a Papercraft Mario Final Smash, etc. It'd be a good tie-in with Paper Jam, and he already has a stage in the 3DS version.

So... It's a possibility.

 

[IntelliHeath]

That kinda makes me curious who the last two characters left will be.

These are the four possible options:

Cloud, Wolf, Snake
Cloud, Wolf, a newcomer
Cloud, Snake, a newcomer
Cloud, a newcomer, a newcomer

I can't see us getting three newcomers in one go like that so I highly doubt the last one, so it's up to the other three then. If we get a newcomer, then I'm sure Wolf will be the veteran, but if we get another returning character alongside him, I think it'd have to be Snake, unless they REALLY want to end on a low note with someone like Pichu.

I'm not saying that it would happens but it's plausible that we could get 4 characters in few weeks; like, Cloud, Veteran, Veteran, Newcomer. For myself, I don't mind if it's going to be Cloud, Snake, Wolf and Inkling. If it actually happens then it would be amazing last half of DLC roster.

They probably already started working on Mewtwo during very early October, and I wouldn't be surprised that they were working on the characters from October to May. I meant look at the development schedule (keep it in your mind that it's all assumptions on my behalf)

Mewtwo, Lucas, Ryu and Roy from October to May - 7 months

When they are done with working on those characters during Late April to May then they probably already jump to next bundle of characters.

Cloud + 2/3 characters from April to November - 7 months

I meant Model/3D team would jump to next amount of characters once they are done with first 4 characters so I wouldn't be surprised that they are going to work on Cloud or veteran first. We already know that veterans are well-requested because they are popular and already established their own fan bases.

 

[Neiteio]

I'm not saying that it would happens but it's plausible that we could get 4 characters in few weeks; like, Cloud, Veteran, Veteran, Newcomer. For myself, I don't mind if it's going to be Cloud, Snake, Wolf and Inkling. If it actually happens then it would be amazing last half of DLC roster.

Of all the possibilities I consider plausible, this is the one I want to happen the most. Cloud, Snake, Wolf and Inkling would be incredible.

 

[Starphoenix]

Of all the possibilities I consider plausible, this is the one I want to happen the most. Cloud, Snake, Wolf and Inkling would be incredible.

This.

 

[Geminosity]

I'm basing that assumption mostly off of this: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1119400

Yup yup. But just as those slots were added after release, they perhaps have the capability of adding more in future too.
My thinking on why there might be more is that while this will be the last smash direct, they haven't specified it's the last push of DLC. While it's far from foolproof to use the previous batch as an example, they were all released on the day of the direct that announced the remaining characters in the batch. Why would we need to be told about a 'future schedule' for DLC that is released on the same day?

edit:

...Inkling would be INKredible.

fixed ;D

 

[Neiteio]

Speaking of Inkling jokes, I hope their title card says:

INKLINGS

make a huge fucking mess!

 

[IntelliHeath]

Conceptualizing a new character is a lot more work than I think people give it credit. Mewtwo was essentially made from scratch, but his actual blueprint was already completed thirteen years ago. And Roy, while heavily altered, is pretty clearly built upon Marth's base, and Lucas is like frame for frame repurposed from Brawl. So no, veterans are not anywhere near equivalent to newcomers I would think.

Right. That's why I could believe anyone if they said that we are going to hear something about 4 characters next month.

We have to consider the amount of time and works that were spend on Mewtwo. In retrospect, we could consider the efforts of including Mewtwo is equally as adding newcomer in the game. Mainly Mewtwo actually have good amount of time being spend on his animation and moveset because they had to made Mewtwo from scratch.

On Ryu, His addition to the roster is freaking awesome. He have more moves than most of the characters in the games. The concept behind L, M, and H moves were brilliant and I really enjoy that aspect a lot.

Like you said, Lucas and Roy would take less times to be working on.

Newcomer: Mewtwo (in a sense) and Ryu
Veterans: Lucas and Roy

The development schedule for first bundle might be about 7 months, and I could says that we might have 7 months schedule for second bundle as well. Hopefully that it would meant something.

Newcomer: Cloud and Inkling
Veterans: Snake and Wolf


Again, everyone know who I am so my expectation is pretty much low. Starting with Snake not being back for good and newcomer might be third party once again.

 

[balladofwindfishes]

Of all the possibilities I consider plausible, this is the one I want to happen the most. Cloud, Snake, Wolf and Inkling would be incredible.

To me, this is the absolute best case scenario and Smash 4 would have an amazing roster of characters to end with.

 

[Neiteio]

I think there are different possible "categories" of reveals.

For example:

SAFE SALES:

Stuff that Sakurai chooses because he feels confident it will sell. Namely, stuff from the big brands: Mario. Zelda. Pokemon. So stuff like Paper Mario or Toon Zelda wouldn't be out of the question.

THE NEW HOTNESS:

Mainly the Inklings in this category. Strike while the iron is hot! They're also the first-party franchise that is most glaringly absent from the roster. It's like a big chunk of Nintendo is missing until they're added.

OLD FAVORITES:

Wolf. Pichu. Squirtle. Ivysaur. Even Ice Climbers if they can be reworked to still function as a team on both systems, or Young Link as a possible Toon Link alt. (I fully acknowledge that last idea is out there.) The "blueprint," as others have noted, is already there. Just a matter of rebuilding and rebalancing.

MORE THIRD PARTIES:

Snake, if Sakurai can get Konami to play ball. (Really in their best interest — free advertising for MGSV, in stores now, and pure profit for them since Nintendo does all the work and they rake in royalties).

Also, Nintendo might leverage the pull of other third-party IP in a bid for high sales, much like they're doing with Cloud and Final Fantasy VII.

BALLOT SUPPORT:

The characters you'd expect — King K. Rool, Dixie, Shovel Knight, etc — or perhaps someone you wouldn't?

UNEXPECTED AT PROMOTIONS?

Maybe we'll see Sakurai rewrite the rules once more and promote some ATs to playable status in this game. Isabelle from Animal Crossing? Takamaru from Mysterious Murasame Castle? Ashley from WarioWare? Midna from Twilight Princess? So many fan-favorite characters (OK, maybe Takamaru's not a fan favorite) that could sell well but are currently locked down in AT Land.

COMPLETLEY UNEXPECTED CHARACTERS:

The characters that the Internet has already convinced itself can't happen, due to past Sakurai comments. But as we all know, Sakurai has a tendency to go back on what he has said and make things work that he said couldn't work before. Case in point: Villager. So who'd be the No. 1 candidate in this category? RIDLEY.

I'm just trying to look at this whole situation in many different ways. But I'm currently hoping for Cloud, Snake, Wolf and Inklings, and I don't think that's too unrealistic.

 

[kirby_fox]

The more I think about it, the more I feel like we may actually get 12 characters total.

Sakurai said he was treating this like it's own game. The least amount of characters he ever had was the original 12 from 64.

Mewtwo, Ryu, Roy and Lucas
Cloud, Wolf, Pichu and Snake
Ice Climbers, Squirtle, Ivysaur and Banjo

Banjo Kazooie would be a Rare rep, not a Microsoft one. Would likely include other stuff from Rare too. And would be huge fan service, as would putting in the vets and leaving young link as the only one not in the game (since toon link is very similar).

Makes sense to me, and would justify the end cost of DLC.

 

[Geminosity]

Speaking of Inkling jokes, I hope their title card says:

INKLINGS

make a huge fucking mess!

"Makes a splash"? :3

UNEXPECTED AT PROMOTIONS?

Maybe we'll see Sakurai rewrite the rules once more and promote some ATs to playable status in this game. Isabelle from Animal Crossing? Takamaru from Mysterious Murasame Castle? Ashley from WarioWare? Midna from Twilight Princess? So many fan-favorite characters (OK, maybe Takamaru's not a fan favorite) that could sell well but are currently locked down in AT Land.

the AT gallery is stuffed with great characters. I don't like them much to begin with but seeing characters I'd genuinely love to play end up in there doesn't make me love them any better. Free the ATs Sakura-eye!!!

 

[Neiteio]

The more I think about it, the more I feel like we may actually get 12 characters total.

Sakurai said he was treating this like it's own game. The least amount of characters he ever had was the original 12 from 64.

Mewtwo, Ryu, Roy and Lucas
Cloud, Wolf, Pichu and Snake
Ice Climbers, Squirtle, Ivysaur and Banjo

Banjo Kazooie would be a Rare rep, not a Microsoft one. Would likely include other stuff from Rare too. And would be huge fan service, as would putting in the vets and leaving young link as the only one not in the game (since toon link is very similar).

Makes sense to me, and would justify the end cost of DLC.

This would be the best timeline.

We live in an age where we have handhelds with glasses-less 3D tech, and the U.S. has a cool black dude for president.

Anything can happen.

 

[Zubz]

My guess is that, if we're really nearing the end of DLC, we're only getting 2-3 more characters after Cloud. Thanks to Star Fox Zero coming up and how glaringly absent Wolf has been from its previews, I'm convinced that one of these characters is Wolf with his SF0 design.

As for the last 1-2 characters, I'm not sure as to who it'll/they'll be. Still, I have 5 hunches. From most to least likely, I'm thinking Inklings, Shovel Knight, K. Rool, Banjo & Kazooie, and Snake. I didn't think any of them'd have a shot pre-release, but between darkhorse ballot votes, Splatoon & Shovel Knight's successes, and Cloud proving that Nintendo's willing to make miracles happen, these 5 suddenly seem likely.

Just watch, though. We might just get Squirtle & Anthony Higgs before Sakurai just calls it a day.

 

[RK128]

I agree with everyone who is saying the final batch of character will be Cloud, Snake, Inking and Wolf.

Two already have a base done and could promote released/upcoming games (MGSV with Snake w/th Big Boss Costume, Wolf for Star Fox Zero early next ear) while the other two are huge for Smash. Cloud represents Square Enix, a big supporter of Nintendo on their handhelds (and at time consoles) and Inkling represents the Wii U with it being a new IP and the game being a success for Nintendo.

I have a strong feeling that those characters are going to be in Smash 4 . The question I am wondering is the stages. The update data suggests we are getting two more stages but if we are getting four new characters (two of them newcomers), how is that going to work :l.

Wolf can use the SF stages from both versions of Smash and Snake could bring his Brawl stage with him (though it would need a few changes to work on 3DS) plus we already know Cloud is getting a Midgar stage for both versions. But that is two stage slots filled; what about the Inkling?

It would be very strange that Nintendo puts them in Smash as a big newcomer and not include an Inkopolis stage or re-work an existing Splatoon Stage into a Smash Arena.

It will be interesting to see what happens next month and even if we aren't getting Snake and Inkling, I am still very excited to have Wolf return and Cloud join Smash next month .

 

[Fandangox]

When the pirate ship patch files were examined, 3 character placeholder files were found right? If one is Cloud, that means there's 2 more left.

 

[RK128]

The more I think about it, the more I feel like we may actually get 12 characters total.

Sakurai said he was treating this like it's own game. The least amount of characters he ever had was the original 12 from 64.

Mewtwo, Ryu, Roy and Lucas
Cloud, Wolf, Pichu and Snake
Ice Climbers, Squirtle, Ivysaur and Banjo

Banjo Kazooie would be a Rare rep, not a Microsoft one. Would likely include other stuff from Rare too. And would be huge fan service, as would putting in the vets and leaving young link as the only one not in the game (since toon link is very similar).

Makes sense to me, and would justify the end cost of DLC.

.....I could see this happening honestly.

Outside or re-working Ice Climbers to work in both versions and the work they put into Cloud, the rest of the characters could join Smash:
-Cloud, Ryu, and Banjo & Kazooie: All three get brand new movests, a stage to represent the IP in both versions and lots of care put into animations/designs/costumes/ect
-Pichu & Snake: Both have their movests complete from past Smash Bros. games and both could have new moves based on newer games. Pichu easily comes to mind, as plenty of new electric attacks have been added to the series to make him different from Pikachu (Iron Tail, Volt Tackle (not final smash, but it working like how it does in the anime/games), Eletric Ball, Spark, ect). Snake also has his Brawl stage to bring with him (so no new stage to represent him; just add music from newer MGS games).
-Ice Climbers: Could make it work like this; they are 8-Bit/16-Bit in the 3DS version and they are their normal character models in the Wii U version. Could bring the IC Stage from Melee with them.
-Squirtle & Ivysaur: Both are glaring absent and would be nice inclusions to Smash Bros.

But, I don't see them releasing in the order you are stating. I see them releasing like this:
-Cloud, Wolf, Ice Climbers and Snake all come to Smash in Dec.
-Pichu, Squirtle, Ivysaur and Banjo & Kazooie come to Smash early 2016

 

[Neiteio]

Regarding slots in patch data:

Can't they just add more slots?

 

[stan423321]

Yes they can. However given previous behaviour of Smash programmers, it is relatively safe to say that they don't strip their code of references to whatever they're already working on when they do that. And that they take their time to finish things.

 

[RK128]

Regarding slots in patch data:

Can't they just add more slots?

They easily could; for all we know, the moment the Smash Direct ends and the new update is rolled out, we will be getting more slots added with that update (leading to the possibility of more then 2-3 characters outside of Cloud coming to Smash).

Its just that the patch is likely in place to make the DLC work right away or it could imply the amount of content we are getting next month.

Either way, they could add more slots in both versions but the question remains how much content remains for Smash Bros in the future? I feel that we might get four more characters after the three/four that will be released next month, but I'm not expecting that.

 

[balladofwindfishes]

When the pirate ship patch files were examined, 3 character placeholder files were found right? If one is Cloud, that means there's 2 more left.

These "slots" change whenever they need them. People put too much faith into them.

Before the last patch, there were only two. Now there's three. So they can easily just have 20 characters ready to go and the slots don't really mean anything. I think as a minimum it works alright, at least three characters at this point, but I don't buy that slots in the files are the max that will be released, as that cap has increased a few times now.

 

[Fandangox]

Regarding slots in patch data:

Can't they just add more slots?

They can, but if they were planning for the December update (?) to be the last update, its possible they have known which characters were going to be the last for a while now.

 

[Geminosity]

The more I think about it, the more I feel like we may actually get 12 characters total.

Sakurai said he was treating this like it's own game. The least amount of characters he ever had was the original 12 from 64.

Mewtwo, Ryu, Roy and Lucas
Cloud, Wolf, Pichu and Snake
Ice Climbers, Squirtle, Ivysaur and Banjo

Banjo Kazooie would be a Rare rep, not a Microsoft one. Would likely include other stuff from Rare too. And would be huge fan service, as would putting in the vets and leaving young link as the only one not in the game (since toon link is very similar).

Makes sense to me, and would justify the end cost of DLC.

It's hard to deny that 12 characters would be very impressive :3
That said, if my Wii-u wasn't used as a setup at the local fighting community I wouldn't actually buy the majority of that list :/

 

[Azure J]

"Makes a splash"? :3


the AT gallery is stuffed with great characters. I don't like them much to begin with but seeing characters I'd genuinely love to play end up in there doesn't make me love them any better. Free the ATs Sakura-eye!!!

I am totally down for this. The AT library is fucking ridiculous.

 

[balladofwindfishes]

Speaking of Assist Trophies, I wonder if Gray Fox would return with Snake, or if they'd just forget about it.

 

[Neiteio]

I am totally down for this. The AT library is fucking ridiculous.

It pains me Isabelle is an AT.

Make her a clone of Villager, but with a fishing rod recovery and grapple (Hookshot-style), and a "Public Works" Final Smash. Include her winter outfit as an alt.

BAM! Nintendo makes so much money that every employee gets a hot-air balloon backslash casino.

 

[Triforce141]

I am totally down for this. The AT library is fucking ridiculous.

I'll only take Tingle if they make him like his Majora's Mask and Hyrule Warriors design, none of that Toon Tingle stuff pls.

 

[BGBW]

Assistant character gets role in Smash as assistant and people act surprised.

 

[Ryce]

It pains me Isabelle is an AT.

Make her a clone of Villager, but with a fishing rod recovery and grapple (Hookshot-style), and a "Public Works" Final Smash. Include her winter outfit as an alt.

BAM! Nintendo makes so much money that every employee gets a hot-air balloon backslash casino.

The fishing rod is a rather glaring omission from Villager's moveset, so Sakurai probably couldn't find a way to implement it to his liking. Considering how integral fishing is to Animal Crossing, I don't think it's something Isabelle would have and not Villager.

 

[balladofwindfishes]

Yea, it's like the world's most obvious tether recovery.

 

[Neiteio]

The fishing rod is a rather glaring omission from Villager's moveset, so Sakurai probably couldn't find a way to implement it to his liking. Considering how integral fishing is to Animal Crossing, I don't think it's something Isabelle would have and not Villager.

I wonder whether Sakurai considered using a fishing rod as a grappling move — to literally "hook and reel in" opponents, or to latch onto ledges.

It might be case where he saw potential in it but was more amused by the bug-catching net and chose that instead.

I think he can still find a way. Sakurai — free my secretary and let her go fishing!

 

[kirby_fox]

But, I don't see them releasing in the order you are stating. I see them releasing like this:
-Cloud, Wolf, Ice Climbers and Snake all come to Smash in Dec.
-Pichu, Squirtle, Ivysaur and Banjo & Kazooie come to Smash early 2016

I figure the more time to get Ice Climbers to work, the better. I wouldn't expect 3 Pokemon to end it either.

Also, there are 9 stages in the N64 version. Currently we're at 7 with Cloud. If we got 12 characters and 9 stages, we wouldn't get a stage to rep one of the characters above. Ice Climbers, Snake and Banjo-- but that's easily solved w/ Ice Climbers not having a home stage and using a retro stage like ROB does. Meaning the last 2 stages would be Snake's from Brawl and a new stage for Banjo Kazooie.

As for other popular choices...I feel like there's just not a big enough Nintendo character right now to put in as DLC. As I've argued before, the characters need enough umph to sell as newcomers, while veterans are popular among the Smash fanbase. I'm not 100% on Banjo, it could be anyone there- but of the popular choices in fan polls and the amount of content they can do by getting Rare into Smash...Banjo makes sense.

 

[InaSnowBoundLand]

Make this happen, Sakurai!

From an upcoming Brawl mod by the same guy who did the Ridley Mod, BaganSmashBros.


He's also working on Kraid and Metal Face, but K. Rool is the priority at the moment. Very glad they stuck with the Rare model (for the most part). Only needs a tail, the armor, and the darker/more natural coloring like in the Mii costume and it would be perfect. Here's hoping!!!

 

[Neiteio]

Wait, I just realized Kirby_Fox's 12-character idea doesn't include the Inklings.

I take back what I said about the best timeline!!

 

[balladofwindfishes]

Did anyone actually ever use the argument that K Rool was too big for Smash?

 

[IntelliHeath]

The fishing rod is a rather glaring omission from Villager's moveset, so Sakurai probably couldn't find a way to implement it to his liking. Considering how integral fishing is to Animal Crossing, I don't think it's something Isabelle would have and not Villager.

Man, I agreed with you there. When we were talking about Animal Crossing moveset, we always put Fishing Rod down as part of the moveset. No Matters What!

During E3 2013, we got Villager. I was geek out for him and I realized that he didn't have a fishing rod which is strange.

 

[InaSnowBoundLand]

Not as common as the point about "relevance", but I have seen it. Probably a little less common than weird fat phobic comments or comments about the character being ugly (I think he's so cute!).

 

[Ryce]

Regarding that K. Rool mod, there's no way an official Smash Bros. character's head would pass clean through a platform during their idle stance.

 

[Nocturnowl]

Did anyone actually ever use the argument that K Rool was too big for Smash?

They certainly did.
some are seemingly unaware that K.Rool has Bowser syndrome where he just shifts his size to fit the role anyway.

 

[woopWOOP]

What if instead of new movesets they just do like Melee and paste a newcomer skin on a slightly altered, existing moveset for remaining DLC blowout

BAM Princess Daisy, Pikmin & Loui, Galactic Knight, Wii Fit Waluigi etc

Spoiler

I'll take one more original newcomer over that actually

 

[InaSnowBoundLand]

Maybe the modder will arch him over a little bit. He could have a menacing stance like Bowser in Melee and Brawl. Thankfully, K. Rool's body type and character leaves a lot of room for it to work!

 

[Geminosity]

Cool! I didn't know someone had made a mod to include king koopa from the mario bros show

 

[Neiteio]

K. Rool is hilarious. I don't know how people can look at him and not smile.

No idea whether he has a chance, though. So far, the DLC newcomers have been A-list superstars. K. Rool is more D-list (even if I love him).