The Official Thread For the Sal Romano/Gematsu Leak

[Vintage Creep]

Well, it's not so much jumping to conclusions as it is establishing hypothesis. Let's see. Previously in smash you started out with a decent sized roster but had many characters you needed to unlock. Most of these characters were hidden to preserve the surprise. Now we have Smash 4 where 33 characters have already been announced. I believe this to be too large for a starting roster based on history and am thus having to assume that some of these characters are unlockables. Now, if Sakurai is showing us some unlockables ahead of time, why not show all? After all, he seems to not lie the internet ruining the surprise for people. In this situation, he controls the surprise for everyone. Could I be wrong? Oh yes, and it won't bother me if I am. But I think it reasonable to at least hypothesize that Sakurai will show all unlockable characters prior to release.

-----> not jumping to conclusions

Never mind that Sakurai himself actually stated in the Digital Event that he wants to keep some characters a secret.

 

[Ryuutakeshi]

Eh, in the end Japan will have all the characters by the 14th and it won't matter.

 

[Luigi#1]

Hoping. Unlockables are fun! And I guess Luigi will be the only unlockable Mario character this time around again? Hmm...

I seriously refuse to believe Rosalina is more important then Luigi. Both starters or both unlockable, or Rosalina the new unlockable.
We'er a bit off topic now...

 

[TheAnvil]

If Chrom, Shulk and CM are in, that's 3 newcomers and three months until the Japan release. Coincidence? I think not. We could easily get another Smash direct before then where they reveal more than 1 newcomer.

I still firmly believe that the Gematsu's aren't it. Unless Sakurai thought it'd be a good business move to string the largest fanbase for an individual character along for months with hints that he'll be playable only to not have him playable.

And Chrom being revealed would also mean the trophy quiz theory has a significant amount of more weight.

 

[True Blue Warrior]

I also hope there is more, though I have no idea how likely it is.

 

[Tr1pleDee]

Not sure if its been posted yet, but the Petilil guy posted wih some more info.

Petilil here and I have some info.

More like clarifications but that's okay. I asked my friend about when Shulk would be revealed or how he would play and he has no idea about either. Then I asked him how he knew Lucas was cut, and he said that he got to see some character sheets that had the franchise logo on top (like the mushroom for Mario or the Pokeball for Pokemon) and below had the Dojo pictures for all playable characters that use that logo (so like the mushroom one had Mario, Luigi, Bowser, Peach, and Rosalina & Luma). He said that the one with the Earthbound logo on it only had Ness. Asking for a few more specifics, I did manage to get out of him a few more returning veterans, Jigglypuff, Captain Falcon, Meta Knight, and Wolf, and the fact that there are no new Donkey Kong characters.

 

[Deleted member]

Not sure if its been posted yet, but the Petilil guy posted wih some more info.

HI BILLY MAYS here and I have some info.

More like clarifications but that's okay. I asked my friend about when Shulk would be revealed or how he would play and he has no idea about either. Then I asked him how he knew Lucas was cut, and he said that he got to see some character sheets that had the franchise logo on top (like the mushroom for Mario or the Pokeball for Pokemon) and below had the Dojo pictures for all playable characters that use that logo (so like the mushroom one had Mario, Luigi, Bowser, Peach, and Rosalina & Luma). He said that the one with the Earthbound logo on it only had Ness. Asking for a few more specifics, I did manage to get out of him a few more returning veterans, Jigglypuff, Captain Falcon, Meta Knight, and Wolf, and the fact that there are no new Donkey Kong characters.

Fixed

Otherwise basically what everyone thought was gonna happen anyway? I don't think anyone expected these guys to be cut, except maybe Wolf, but even then more people expect Wolf back than Lucas. Nothing out of the ordinary yet. Guess we still have to wait until this week ends...

 

[TheAnvil]

Not sure if its been posted yet, but the Petilil guy posted wih some more info.

Petilil here and I have some info.

More like clarifications but that's okay. I asked my friend about when Shulk would be revealed or how he would play and he has no idea about either. Then I asked him how he knew Lucas was cut, and he said that he got to see some character sheets that had the franchise logo on top (like the mushroom for Mario or the Pokeball for Pokemon) and below had the Dojo pictures for all playable characters that use that logo (so like the mushroom one had Mario, Luigi, Bowser, Peach, and Rosalina & Luma). He said that the one with the Earthbound logo on it only had Ness. Asking for a few more specifics, I did manage to get out of him a few more returning veterans, Jigglypuff, Captain Falcon, Meta Knight, and Wolf, and the fact that there are no new Donkey Kong characters.

So now he suddenly knows all the roster? I wonder why he doesn't tell us exactly what it is.

 

[Aguki90]

So I just bought Xenoblade, and...

Spoiler

Sal Leak confirmed real. First Rhythm Heaven at Smashfest, now this. This cannot be a coincidence.

Is me but, Rhythm Heaven is in the MIDDLE of Legend of Zelda(Right) and Kirby(Left). And Xenoblade have this paper where every other nintendo franchise including Rhythm Heaven too, I don't remeber is my own Rhythm game still hold this paper...
I cannot believe the choose to show Bandana Dee (Return to Dream Land) and not Prince fluff(Epic Yarn).

 

[Deleted member]

So now he suddenly knows all the roster? I wonder why he doesn't tell us exactly what it is.

Because he's bluffing.

 

[Ryuutakeshi]

I'll trade Lucas for Mewtwo any day. My gullible self believes every word of this.

 

[Tr1pleDee]

In my opinion this guy is just making a bunch of safe guesses. The only thing I find odd is how he says falco will be revealed this week, which is throwing himself under the bus if that doesnt happen. I'll just remain skeptical for now.

Although I wonder, if he has character sheets, why does he only know about specific ones? My guess would be that he doesn't have individual sheets for Wario, Ice Climbers, Rhythm Heaven, Game&Watch, R.O.B, etc? It just seems a bit odd, but then again I'm not quite sure how promo material works. Only franchise not mentioned that I question is Fire Emblem, which already has 2 characters revealed. What about Chrom?

 

[TheAnvil]

Because he's bluffing.

 

[Luigi#1]

What if this guy is pulling a hypothetical false Sal Romano and saying something that is basically gambling and gets it correct.

 

[Phaazoid]

 

[Louie G.]

I'm not sure what to think, so I'll have to wait for Falco.

As for Mewtwo and K. Rool as a boss, it's very bittersweet.
I get my most wanted character, but my most wanted newcomer is a boss.

K. Rool doesn't fit as a boss at all, that's a terrible decision if true.

 

[Pazzo.]

I'm not sure what to think, so I'll have to wait for Falco.

As for Mewtwo and K. Rool as a boss, it's very bittersweet.
I get my most wanted character, but my most wanted newcomer is a boss.

K. Rool doesn't fit as a boss at all, that's a terrible decision if true.

I wouldn't count on it. In fact, I'd bet money on Falco not showing this week.

 

[Luigi#1]

How long after E3 was Olimar revealed?

 

[Tristan_win]

It's going to be interesting if Falco does come out this week or next as then people are going to treat what he says as scripture.

 

[Fatmanonice]

How long after E3 was Olimar revealed?

Almost exactly a month afterwards. The E3 reveals were on June 11th 2013 while Olimar was revealed July 12th 2013.

 

[Luigi#1]

It's going to be interesting if Falco does come out this week or next as then people are going to treat what he says as scripture.

Just like Sal!

Almost exactly a month afterwards. The E3 reveals were on June 11th 2013 while Olimar was revealed July 12th 2013.

Hmm, it would be odd if he was revealed this week then. This guy may have taken a gamble. A BIG one at that.

 

[Louie G.]

With the game just around the corner, I can see more frequent character reveals.

 

[Staarih]

I doubt we'll get Falco this week, but even if we did, I would still call it a mere coincidence. would be cool tho

I'm guessing it'll be closer to the middle of July or after until the next veteran reveal.

 

[Phaazoid]

With the game just around the corner, I can see more frequent character reveals.

Well, that depends on how many characters are left, honestly.

There were 12 characters not revealed for brawl before the game came out.
Of the characters that were revealed, we have lucas, ice climbers, meta knight, and wario to go.

But of those characters, toon link, lucario, luigi, and marth have been shown.

I'm willing to bet ROB, G&W, Ganon, Wolf, Capt. Falcon, Ness, and Jigglypuff are secret vets, at the very least.
Falco probably will be too, but I could see him being promoted to a starter
Snake is a weird case. He could be secret, he could be cut, 3rd parties are weird, I dunno.

Squirtle and Ivysaur are most likely gone, not enough star power to merit their own slots. (as much as I love Ivysaur in PM )



So We might get 2, maybe 3 more newcomers before the game comes out, possibly the sal trio, or maybe others.
Maybe we'll only get the last vets, with or without lucas.

It all depends on how many characters are left that aren't going to be secret. I personally fear the sal leak is all the remaining characters, but if any newcomers are revealed between now and the game's launch, that would make me less afraid.

 

[NoiseHERO]

I should make a leak.

So I have this homie that works the copying machine in one of Nintendo's warehouse facilities and they're sending the game out to only a few Gamestops 3 months early to prepare for the final demo they'll have. He says the next demo will come with a giant cardboard cut-outs Captain falcon, Jiggly puff, Luigi and Ness as homage to the original 4 unlockables!

Something about his info sounds kind of off though, So don't assume I'm pretending to be a credible source it's all my imaginary friend's sayings. He says the demo will be out on the first Friday of September so I guess you guys will only be able to confirm or de-confirm these believable safe guesses by waiting.

Update: He also says they're not going to advertise which Gamestop is getting these cardboard cutouts only a few secret stores, you'll just have to see when the characters get in the game!

 

[TheAnvil]

Well, that depends on how many characters are left, honestly.

There were 12 characters not revealed for brawl before the game came out.
Of the characters that were revealed, we have lucas, ice climbers, meta knight, and wario to go.

But of those characters, toon link, lucario, luigi, and marth have been shown.

I'm willing to bet ROB, G&W, Ganon, Wolf, Capt. Falcon, Ness, and Jigglypuff are secret vets, at the very least.
Falco probably will be too, but I could see him being promoted to a starter
Snake is a weird case. He could be secret, he could be cut, 3rd parties are weird, I dunno.

Squirtle and Ivysaur are most likely gone, not enough star power to merit their own slots. (as much as I love Ivysaur in PM )



So We might get 2, maybe 3 more newcomers before the game comes out, possibly the sal trio, or maybe others.
Maybe we'll only get the last vets, with or without lucas.

It all depends on how many characters are left that aren't going to be secret. I personally fear the sal leak is all the remaining characters, but if any newcomers are revealed between now and the game's launch, that would make me less afraid.

Wait. How do Squirtle and Ivysaur not have enough star power to merit their own slots but: Ness, Lucas, Marth, Ike, Roy, Jigglypuff, Pichu, Ice Climbers, Palutena, ROB, Pit, Shiek and half a dozen other lesser known characters do? That doesn't make any sense.

 

[NoiseHERO]

Wait. How do Squirtle and Ivysaur not have enough star power to merit their own slots but: Ness, Lucas, Marth, Ike, Roy, Jigglypuff, Pichu, Ice Climbers, Palutena, ROB, Pit, Shiek and half a dozen other lesser known characters do? That doesn't make any sense.

Smashbros fanbase >>>>>>>>>>> series' revelance. (well HERE at least.)

IMO tho I'm tired of gen1 pokemon being a thing, I don't even like them in their own series, let alone taking up more smash slots. <_>

 

[Louie G.]

I think that, if secret characters return, we'll be getting Wario, Meta Knight, Ice Climbers, Ness, and maybe Captain Falcon and Mewtwo before release. As for newcomers I doubt that Chorus Kids, Shulk, and Chrom are secret.

IMO tho I'm tired of gen1 pokemon being a thing, I don't even like them in their own series, let alone taking up more smash slots. <_>

Well as it turns out Gen 1 Pokemon are the most iconic and popular. Pikachu, Charizard, Mewtwo, even Jigglypuff are some of the most iconic and advertised Pokemon, so it makes sense for them to be in Smash.

Pokemon shouldn't be judged on what Gen they're from, I doubt Sakurai cares at all.
They should be judged on how important they are.

 

[Phaazoid]

Wait. How do Squirtle and Ivysaur not have enough star power to merit their own slots but: Ness, Lucas, Marth, Ike, Roy, Jigglypuff, Pichu, Ice Climbers, Palutena, ROB, Pit, Shiek and half a dozen other lesser known characters do? That doesn't make any sense.

It makes perfect sense.

First off Lucas, according to the sal leak, is probably gonna be cut, and was only in from brawl, so he doesn't have the popularity either. Pichu was cut, so this doesn't even make sense, re-read your posts.

Ness, Falcon, and Jigglypuff have been in since smash 64. Any of those vets have enough star power from longevity in the series alone to merit inclusion. Don't expect them to be cut.

Marth? Really? You include the main fire emblem lord, ever, to not have star power?
Pit? Ness? These characters are the main characters from their respective franchises. You obviously have some strong bias against other Nintendo series'.

See, here's the problem. We're getting close to 1000 pokemon. Give it one or two more generations, we'll be there. Smash is gonna have, if we're lucky, about 50 characters. Most popular roster predictions give 5 or 6 of those slots to pokemon. That's 1/10 of the cast.

So how do you choose 5 out of 700 odd pokemon? Popularity, and promotion.

Pikachu is the face of the series. He is just as important to smash as Ness, Marth, and Pit, the faces of their series. He's in.
Jigglypuff has been in since mash 64. She may have declined in popularity, but I don't think Sakurai is going to cut her for that.
Lucario is one of the most popular of the more recent pokemon, basically the face of Gen 4. This is evident from the mega evolution it received, the movie it got, and its role in Pokemon X/Y.
Charizard is one of the most popular pokemon in existence, being one of the only 2 pokemon that got 2 Mega evolutions, appearing in multiple movies, and making a comeback as a starter again in X/Y
Greninja is a starter from the brand new pokemon games, which Sakurai felt a need to represent the most current generation of pokemon in smash. After all, lucario is out of date now

And we have an argument for Mewtwo coming back - popularity, the only other pokemon with 2 megas, ect. Not confirmed, but definitely has a shot.

Squirtle and Ivysaur have nothing on any of those pokemon. The problem with their ability to get back on the roster is high barrier of entry. It's the same reason we aren't going to have Toad, Bowser Jr, or paper mario this time around. They all have merits, sure, but you can only have so many characters from one series before it is completely over-represented.

Squirtle and Ivysaur were extremely lucky in brawl, they managed to sneak in under Charizards cover, as transformations. But with transformations cut, they won't be seeing playability in smash again, unless they get lucky with DLC.

(dont get me wrong, I'd love for that to happen. I like these characters, and I hate cuts. I'm just being down to earth, and you obviously are on cloud 9, or somewhere very far from reality)

 

[TheAnvil]

Smashbros fanbase >>>>>>>>>>> series' revelance. (well HERE at least.)

IMO tho I'm tired of gen1 pokemon being a thing, I don't even like them in their own series, let alone taking up more smash slots. <_>

Star Power essentially equates to general renown. And two of the most iconic Pokemon ever have more renown than 90% of the rest of the roster.

And let's face it, generally speaking more people would be interested in playing Squirtle, or hell Unown than they would Ike or Lucas.

 

[NoiseHERO]

I think that, if secret characters return, we'll be getting Wario, Meta Knight, Ice Climbers, Ness, and maybe Captain Falcon and Mewtwo before release. As for newcomers I doubt that Chorus Kids, Shulk, and Chrom are secret.

Well as it turns out Gen 1 Pokemon are the most iconic and popular. Pikachu, Charizard, Mewtwo, even Jigglypuff are some of the most iconic and advertised Pokemon, so it makes sense for them to be in Smash.

Pokemon shouldn't be judged on what Gen they're from, I doubt Sakurai cares at all.
They should be judged on how important they are.

Oh I'm fully aware they're more popular/relevant and ****ton of them will get in the game regardless of what I think. Just saying I'm tired of the over-rating of gen1 pokemon and their starters being shoved into the spotlight, and I'm tired of seeing each of the mascot of the year pokemon (lucario, zoarark, etc.) And that imo greninja was best pokemon to happen to smashbros series.

Star Power essentially equates to general renown. And two of the most iconic Pokemon ever have more renown than 90% of the rest of the roster.

And let's face it, generally speaking more people would be interested in playing Squirtle, or hell Unown than they would Ike or Lucas.

Bender pretty much covered what I was implying in my other post.

 

[Phaazoid]

Star Power essentially equates to general renown. And two of the most iconic Pokemon ever have more renown than 90% of the rest of the roster.

And let's face it, generally speaking more people would be interested in playing Squirtle, or hell Unown than they would Ike or Lucas.

Just because you don't like/never played fire emblem doesn't mean Ike isn't popular.

He's the star of not one, but multiple fire emblem games, which is a big thing for the series, it's the only time it's happened (other than Marth)

You're letting your own bias mingle with your logic, and it's ruining your arguments. If you try to make claims or seriously believe that Unknown, or really, 90% of the pokemon out there are more popular than Ike, you obviously don't know enough about Nintendo to have an intelligent argument with.

 

[ScottyWK]

Just like Sal!

Hmm, it would be odd if he was revealed this week then. This guy may have taken a gamble. A BIG one at that.

It's not a "BIG" gamble...he has absolutely nothing to lose. If Falco's revealed, he has you in his pockets. If not, he says "oh well" and goes back to trolling on the internet, enjoying his summer break, or his day job.

 

[True Blue Warrior]

The thing about Squirtle and Ivysaur is that it is very suspicious that we have yet to see them when we have seen other transformation characters return. Considering they were starters to begin with, shouldn't they have been revealed along with Charizard?

 

[Curious Villager]

The thing about Squirtle and Ivysaur is that it is very suspicious that we have yet to see them when we have seen other transformation characters return. Considering they were starters to begin with, shouldn't they have been revealed along with Charizard?

To be fair, Zero Suit Samus and Sheik weren't revealed alongside Samus and Zelda either.

Not that I'm really expecting them at this point really, but still.

 

[Chandeelure]

So I just bought Xenoblade, and...

Spoiler

Sal Leak confirmed real. First Rhythm Heaven at Smashfest, now this. This cannot be a coincidence.

Bandana Dee confirmed.

 

[True Blue Warrior]

To be fair, Zero Suit Samus and Sheik weren't revealed alongside Samus and Zelda either.

Not that I'm really expecting them at this point really, but still.

Time is ticking. It is very unlikely and nonsensical for them to be secret characters, so if they haven't been cut, we should know some time before September.

 

[TheAnvil]

Just because you don't like/never played fire emblem doesn't mean Ike isn't popular.

He's the star of not one, but multiple fire emblem games, which is a big thing for the series, it's the only time it's happened (other than Marth)

You're letting your own bias mingle with your logic, and it's ruining your arguments. If you try to make claims or seriously believe that Unknown, or really, 90% of the pokemon out there are more popular than Ike, you obviously don't know enough about Nintendo to have an intelligent argument with.

It's all about exposure. Fire Emblem may be popular, but with a small crowd. The entire series of 13 games has sold less than 5 million copies. Comparatively, the first Pokemon game alone sold 23.64 million copies, nearly 5 times the total number of the 13 FE games.

Ivysaur and Squirtle being among the starters, and therefore Icons of the entire franchise have had a ridiculous amount of exposure in comparison. Thus, they have more star Power than most other characters in the Smash Bros series. They don't invoke "who the hell is that", because everyone knows who they are. Not as much can be said for plenty of other Smash Bros characters.

 

[Phaazoid]

To be fair, Zero Suit Samus and Sheik weren't revealed alongside Samus and Zelda either.

Not that I'm really expecting them at this point really, but still.

This is because Samus was one of the first characters revealed, and Zelda not too long afterwards. The point being, these characters were both revealed before we were told that character transformations were gone.

When we were told that, we were given ZSS, Shiek, Charizard, and... Yoshi.

3 Character transformation vets, and yoshi.

If squirtle/ivy were coming back, it would have been there. I thought even Charizard had been cut until the end of the direct.

It's all about exposure. Fire Emblem may be popular, but with a small crowd. The entire series of 13 games has sold less than 5 million copies. Comparatively, the first Pokemon game alone sold 23.64 million copies, nearly 5 times the total number of the 13 FE games.

Ivysaur and Squirtle being among the starters, and therefore Icons of the entire franchise have had a ridiculous amount of exposure in comparison. Thus, they have more star Power than most other characters in the Smash Bros series. They don't invoke "who the hell is that", because everyone knows who they are. Not as much can be said for plenty of other Smash Bros characters.

5 million is about 1/4 of 20 million

13 games ~ 13 main characters (some had more than one, some had the same, so it's an estimation)
Pokemon >700 characters.

Smash is about representing Nintendo's different franchises. Pokemon is bigger than Fire emblem, so the get more reps. The most popular reps from fire emblem are still more popular than bottom of the barrel pokemon that you probably haven't even heard of, like Maractus. \

I'll admit that Squirtle and Ivysaur are definitely more in the limelight than a lot of other pokemon, being gen 1 starters, and appearing in Brawl. But they do not stand out more than power players like Mewtwo. They already have 4 pokemon announced. We aren't gonna get more than 2 more.

Sure, if you put a poll of overall knowledge of the general population, more people would probably be able to name Squirtle than Ike. But that's not what this is about. Otherwise, why represent Fire emblem at all? Why not just put marth in and call it a day?

Because importance of the character to their respective franchise is what matters. There are only a limited number of spots for playable character for franchise, so it doesn't matter if more people can identify a goomba than Ike, Ike is going to make the cut because of his centrality to Fire Emblem, and goomba isn't because of his lack of centrality to Mario IN COMPARISON to the mario characters who are playable.

 

[Deleted member]

Bandana Dee confirmed.

Ghirahim confirmed. Ridley deconfirmed. King K. Rool deconfirmed. Trophy Quiz straw grasp is false.