RGFS

I really wanted to get a few more people thinking about how GTA or any Rockstar thing could be included in Smash and be interesting. I'm happy that it lead to some conversation or just general approval of the idea. That was really nice and worth it. I still don't believe Karen controversies GTA carries would hold ever it back, especially since that really doesn't happen now with the series and it never stopped Nintendo from collaborating with Rockstar before. However, the one thing that always kept me from being confident in seeing Rockstar in Smash was the theory of Rockstar Games themselves being against crossovers. They've never been in any before, and at this point, I don't think they ever will as long as the people calling the shots don't want it. An example is how series like Minecraft crossed over with Retro City Rampage (a great 2D GTA-inspired game) with both Steve being playable in RCR and "The Player" from RCR being a Minecraft Skin. Half-Life and Fallout have Skins in Minecraft too, yet Rockstar Games has none. They never show up in any type of other game with crossovers like Fortnite or PS All-Stars.

It's already complicated for Rockstar Games characters to crossover with each other with the whole HD and 3D Universes stuff and the questionable canonicity of other Rockstar Games to GTA. I remember reading how Ned Luke said something along the lines that he wasn't allowed to play Michael De Santa when he did Cameo recordings according to DarkViperAU. Stuff like this tells me Rockstar Games is very protective of their characters and the integrity of their universe similar to how Matt Groening hated how The Simpsons had a crossover with The Critic or how Stephen Hillenburg was strongly against the idea of crossover episodes for SpongeBob (Though the execs at Viacom seem to have met him halfway on that by allowing Video Game crossovers.) Rockstar is essentially on top of the world in the gaming industry, they don't need crossovers for people to notice them, they don't need to announce stuff at big events, and they're not even forced to announce things too early.

A GTA character becoming a Smash fighter was a sort of interesting opportunity to maybe get Nintendo fans instantly interested in a GTA game but it's not like they needed that to sell copies really. Nintendo is actually seemingly going to publish the physical release of the exciting trilogy remaster according to some of what I've read. Nintendo definitely insisted to get involved with this release. Even if Nintendo entertained the idea of a Mii Costume, Spirit, or anything around the time these talks or LA Noire stuff happened, Rockstar was probably one of the few, if not the only company to decline being involved and I wouldn't really be surprised.


So while I'm really happy with how everything turned out, from the Smash roster to GTA on Switch. I think it's perfectly reasonable and okay to say we're never gonna see Rockstar Games involved with any sort of crossover as long as Rockstar Games is against it. It's like the Sora and Disney stuff but way more based in reality. This did feel like the biggest roadblock and it seems to be completely true based on everything, oh well, it was really fun to dream and think about though., I'd still love to see some other series that I think have a solid chance for the next Smash, but I think it's time to face that it's the end of the line... You know unless we see them in Fortnite and some GTA spirits in Smash when the trilogy comes out, then I'll be over the moon!! I feel like their absence in those places once 11/11 passes will be quite telling though.

I love Smash in general too much to be bothered by this tbh. It's such a fun game that introduced me to so many other fun games, I hope my love for something like GTA around here maybe even ended up inspiring others to pick up the GTA Trilogy on Switch. Many Loud GTA fans are pretty toxic, would be nice if we got more cool people like Smash does. Speaking of toxicity, a friend of mine sent me a few tweets from this "For Smash" Twitter account for GTA... I don't even know what to say, it gives me second-hand embarrassment as a GTA fan myself. His awful reaction to Sora and the end of Smash makes me feel even more okay with not having GTA in the game, lol! At least there are other solid accounts I saw like the CJ for Smash account who did write some way better stuff. A much cooler and friendlier guy when I interacted with him during my time on Twitter.