Great post. I feel like Pac-Man and Miis being put together is actually rather perfect. Both share a lot of the same similarities in terms of popularity. They're both characters that have a very real chance of getting in, especially due to many leaks, but for some reason garner hatred simply because someone doesn't like them. It doesn't seem to be fueled by knowledge or level of impact, but simply by dislike, which is odd.
...
I don't normally have any control over what characters we rate and when we rate them; however, now that I do for the moment, I'm trying my best to make days as interesting and efficient as possible. The characters in the upcoming days share days with similar characters; I put Pac-Man and Miis together because they're the "leaked and likely but unpopular" duo; tomorrow is Retros and the day after that is Fire Emblem; then we have "missing ATs" followed by back to back Zelda days.
...onto my ratings...
Pac-Man: 80% chance
Before the Direct, I gave him a score of 66%, and I think that was a very fair score based on the evidence at hand. I'll run through it again because it still very much applies to his situation now--Pac-Man is the mascot of the company developing the game and a legendary video game character who is more famous than almost every fighter currently in the game. Additionally, his company is trying to resurrect him with a new show and game, and Sakurai is permitting only the most legendary third-party characters to enter. Seems like a match made in heaven, huh? Oh, and Pac is the subject of a certain leak that can't be dismissed out of hand.
I think the Direct and the press kit that came with it have certainly helped him even further. We've seen not one but two Namco items take the stage, and we've also seen a Final Destination that is reminiscent of Soul Calibur and some other miscellaneous changes that seem more like Namco's style than Sakurai's style. Before the Direct, we didn't know if Namco would be doing anything other than working on the game; now we know that they have also entered into negotiations with Nintendo for having actual content in the game.
I'd be pretty darn surprised if we didn't see a Namco character playable in this title, and I'd be even more surprised if it weren't Pac-Man. He is their mascot and the biggest character they have; Lloyd and a few others are technically possible, but highly, highly unlikely.
Pac-Man Want: 100%
@
Pacack
told you a story today, and I'm sure you found it very moving. I think it's about time I told you a second--one that I've never shared before.
There once was a boy who grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia. He loved playing video games from the time when he was just five years old. His favorites at the time were mostly on the N64, a system that he would play at his best friend's house on a regular basis because he did not own one. Even so, he also enjoyed arcade games--he had a Namco Plug 'n Play system before he had a true gaming console, and he always loved two games of it in particular: Pac-Man and Dig Dug. Although he didn't really play it much once a Gamecube and a game called Melee showed up under his Christmas tree, Pac-Man and Dig Dug still held a special place in his heart.
However, Pac-Man established a deeper link to the boy's heart when he was eight years old. The boy's faithful German Shepard had just had a strange injury of some sort, and it was having trouble walking. The dog had to "leave," which left the boy pretty down about things, so his parents sent him to his aunt's house a couple of times. While he was there, he played one of the few video games his aunt had--Pac Man World 2 for the Gamecube. It wasn't a particularly amazing game and the boy can remember little about how it actually played, but he can remember one thing about it: playing Pac-Man made him--made me--happy in a difficult time.
Back in pre-Brawl, I was one of the few who was a Pac-Man supporter. Back then, we didn't have the whole "Namco is making the game" advantage--very few people talked about him and fewer still actually liked Pac-Man. This never stopped me for wishing a cast of five third-parties (Snake, Sonic, Pac-Man, Mega Man, and Spyro [story for another day]). Although I wasn't surprised to see Pac-Man excluded from the game, I still wanted to see him. The day it was announced that Namco is making the game, I was happy because I thought it meant Pac-Man--and I remain optimistic to this day.
Pac-Man is at the bottom of my top ten most wanted characters list because there are others who I think would be cooler and who I have a much deeper connection with. Even so, I am a Pac-Man supporter--he brings up good memories and the thought of him getting in just makes me happy.
*AHEM* Onto Mii.
Mii: 66% chance
Before the Direct, I viewed Mii's as equal to Palutena as the closest thing we have to a lock. What I said back then--and still say now--is that Miis are the most important Nintendo characters not yet in the game. Everyone who will be playing this game has a Mii, and a great deal of gamers--especially younger ones who have no idea who the heck the likes of K. Rool and Little Mac are--want to play as themselves. Miis are generally hated upon unanimously on sites like Smashboards, but among less-passionate fans, they're a popular candidate. Also, they pop up in what seems like every game as playable characters nowadays; why wouldn't they in one like this where they try to include as many Nintendo characters as possible? Nintendo will definitely try to heavily work Miis into this game.
One thing that has changed for me since the Direct, however, is my own thinking. We've seen Miis in stages, Miis in menus, Miis everywhere--maybe this is good enough for Miis. Maybe Sakurai doesn't dub them as Nintendo All-Stars and rather sees them as things to incorporate in other ways. Maybe he realizes how much the more passionate and longstanding fans of the franchise dislike the idea of Miis as playable characters. I just don't know.
I still see Miis as probable characters; I no longer see them as near-certainties.
Mii Want: 33%
I love Miis in general; games that many of you probably deem "too casual" like Wii Sports and Wii Party have occupied me for hours. Even so, I have little desire to see them in Smash; in a game filled with lots of great video game characters, playing as myself seems pretty underwhelming. That's pretty much all I have to say on the matter. I do doubt we'll see a huge dominance of Miis on online play; there are tons of other cool characters to pick and they all play very, very differently, so I doubt any single character will dominate the others, including Miis.
DAY OVER
CAN'T... THINK OF... WITTY COMMENT...
NickerBocker
They're not the exact same Hitler. Probably not possible to differentiate on a Mii. 
oh look he also has his own emoticon =D
Groose
's opinions on Fire Emblem characters now.
