45 or 54. That's how many characters we are getting

[Hypercat-Z]

I think I got a clue of how many characters we are getting.
http://www.smashbros.com/us/characters/wii_fit_trainer.html (worth with any character thoughT)
If we look at the strips of characters on the bottom we see it's already splitted in sets of nine chars (you already see the empty panels). So we evince the final number is a multiple of nine. It can't be 36 because that would be only one character more than the previous episode, and 63 is a too freaking high number to be considered. So we are stuck with those two numbers.
54 is still a huge number but still reasonable, and 45 even more reasonable.

 

[SonicMario]

I'd be very content with a 45 character roster. As that'd likely mean the majority of the Brawl characters return plus we get a nice handful of newcomers in the meantime.

However there's always the chance that if the complete roster number is not a multiple of nine they could just not have a square at all. So we can't be 100% sure.

 

[Zzuxon]

What makes you think they won't partially fill a row? Or reformat?

 

[ChuckHades]

Sakurai has said that the Brawl roster was a little crowded (or words to that effect), so 36 is actually very reasonable.

Assuming that there is no unfilled rows or w/e.

 

[Hypercat-Z]

What makes you think they won't partially fill a row? Or reformat?

I have even considered the possibility of that being a red herring. But I still see it as the lowest probability.

 

[Moon Monkey]

54...including transformation characters?? hmmm..idk
I think any thing from mid to high 40s is likely with transformations

 

[Jaedrik]

I agree with Zzuxon, but 54 does align nicely with my ideal roster. . . HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

 

[Chiroz]

I think I got a clue of how many characters we are getting.
http://www.smashbros.com/us/characters/wii_fit_trainer.html (worth with any character thoughT)
If we look at the strips of characters on the bottom we see it's already splitted in sets of nine chars (you already see the empty panels). So we evince the final number is a multiple of nine. It can't be 36 because that would be only one character more than the previous episode, and 63 is a too freaking high number to be considered. So we are stuck with those two numbers.
54 is still a huge number but still reasonable, and 45 even more reasonable.

It depends on Browser, Resolution and/or Device (PC, Mobile or Tablet). I have also seen multiples of 5, 3 and 4, so unless the character select will be a multiple of 9, 5, 4 and 3 (YAY for 180 characters!!!) then I don't think that has any relevancy.

 

[Hippopotasauce]

On different resolutions there are a varying amount of characters on each strip.
On a phone, the strips only hold 5 characters each.

 

[Zzuxon]

I agree with Zzuxon, but 54 does align nicely with my ideal roster. . . HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

54 characters would be awesome. I designed my roster with 50 characters.

 

[Stompman]

I think it's silly to think a 36 character roster is realistic at all. Yes, Sakuri said once that he doesn't think Smash should have a huge roster, but he said in an interview than that he wants to get as many characters as possible into this installment, and since he and Nintendo know that we really buy these games because of the characters, I think it's bad to estimate that the roster will be that low, I think we'll see 48 characters minimum, before transformations.

As far as the OP, yeah, that number is different based on what device you look at the page with, so unfortunately, we don't have any way to know the exact roster size.

 

[Fatmanonice]

I think it's silly to think a 36 character roster is realistic at all. Yes, Sakuri said once that he doesn't think Smash should have a huge roster, but he said in an interview than that he wants to get as many characters as possible into this installment, and since he and Nintendo know that we really buy these games because of the characters, I think it's bad to estimate that the roster will be that low, I think we'll see 48 characters minimum, before transformations.

As far as the OP, yeah, that number is different based on what device you look at the page with, so unfortunately, we don't have any way to know the exact roster size.

This. Also, Brawl had 39 characters and 35 individual character slots. We've already seen three new characters so for this to be remotely possible that would pretty much have to take a hacksaw to Brawl's roster and/or reduce the number of newcomers to 5 or 6 to make this even remotely plausible.

 

[Hypercat-Z]

It depends on Browser, Resolution and/or Device (PC, Mobile or Tablet). I have also seen multiples of 5, 3 and 4, so unless the character select will be a multiple of 9, 5, 4 and 3 (YAY for 180 characters!!!) then I don't think that has any relevancy.

On different resolutions there are a varying amount of characters on each strip.
On a phone, the strips only hold 5 characters each.

Wait! So not all of you are seeing five emtpy boxes in the second row right now?
This changes everything!

 

[ThatPersonGuy]

Wait! So not all of you are seeing five emtpy boxes in the second row right now?
This changes everything!

Well, it does when an entire argument is worded on the appearance of so called missing boxes in the second row.

 

[Hypercat-Z]

OK! I'm officially stupid!

 

[Dr. James Rustles]

If we look at the strips of characters on the bottom we see it's already splitted in sets of nine chars (you already see the empty panels). So we evince the final number is a multiple of nine.

 

[MasterOfKnees]

You can't look into anything right now. They're trying to implement as many characters as possible, the final roster size hasn't been decided yet.

The Brawl site's character page doesn't align up perfectly either, the veteran box has Sheik as the only character of the bottom row, and the boxes simply expanded when new characters where introduced. There's no obvious pattern to be found.

Either way, I'm guessing anywhere in between 40 to 45 characters.

 

[Uffe]

45 characters seem more realistic. For one, Brawl had 39 characters in total. That is including Zelda changing to Sheik, Samus to Zamus, and the 3 Pokemon the Trainer held. I do recall Sakurai stating that some characters from the past games may not return. So that alone may reduce the rosters size.

 

[greenluigiman2]

Why did you link to WFT's profile?

 

[TheTuninator]

It's highly unlikely that Nintendo would be foolish enough as to reveal the roster size via such a detail on the website. For that matter, it's a bit silly to assume that Nintendo would shackle themselves to obeying the 9-characters-per-page rule for the entirety of the website's existence.

UIs for major websites tend to be ephemeral by nature.

 

[Dark Phazon]

Well...DurRRrR...

No S_it Sherlock...

We will get between 25-60

Like to be right for the sake of being right?

 

[AkashicSword]

45 characters seem more realistic. For one, Brawl had 39 characters in total. That is including Zelda changing to Sheik, Samus to Zamus, and the 3 Pokemon the Trainer held. I do recall Sakurai stating that some characters from the past games may not return. So that alone may reduce the rosters size.

This news bit implied the series on a larger spectrum. While it's a thin possibility, that sentence could just imply he won't reach back for Melee characters and keep what we have. However, interviews with Sakurai have done nothing but made me less and less hype, so cutting everything and having a roster of like 30 wouldn't even surprise me at this point (I sound very pessimistic, and I am indeed).

 

[Oracle_Summon]

45, heck even 40 character spaces seems more fitting to me. I would like more room spent for the game to run smoothly and helping the game be more balanced. I just hope we never get to the point of having a roster the size of Marvel vs. Capcom 2. Imagine trying to play through everyone's stories on that.....

 

[Reznor]

I'm pretty sure Sakurai said they weren't going to have as many characters this time around so I doubt we will get more than 42 character (not counting transformations)

 

[BADGRAPHICS]

54 characters isn't realistic. Every time you add a character, development time increases exponentially.
That would be an increase of 19 characters from Brawl! There were 13 additions from Smash 64 to Melee, and 10 for Brawl, so expect about an extra 7 or 8. About 42 characters is a realistic estimate; all the worthwhile characters fit into that figure anyway.

 

[Oracle_Summon]

I'm pretty sure Sakurai said they weren't going to have as many characters this time around so I doubt we will get more than 42 character (not counting transformations)

Sounds ok to me. As long as we get characters that have different playstyles and bring more to the table, then less is more. Though, I believe people want a bigger roster count just to increase the chances of their favorite character joining.

 

[MargnetMan23]

Sounds ok to me. As long as we get characters that have different playstyles and bring more to the table, then less is more. Though, I believe people want a bigger roster count just to increase the chances of their favorite character joining.

All things considered yeah sure, there are going to be some deserving candidates that will probably not make it but WHATEVER! All things considered I wouldn't really care if guys like Ridley didn't make it I'll just be playing as mega man any way XD

 

[Oracle_Summon]

All things considered yeah sure, there are going to be some deserving candidates that will probably not make it but WHATEVER! All things considered I wouldn't really care if guys like Ridley didn't make it I'll just be playing as mega man any way XD

I agree with ya there. Not everyone's favorite character will get in, but I won't be punching holes in walls if Little Mac doesn't get in, instead I will just have to play The Villager.

 

[Alzi]

My guess is 42-49, I think it was.

 

[Nintendotard]

I'm hoping for a roster size of 45-50. With transformations. Sure an increase of 19 characters does sounds big, but hey, like Sakurai said he wants as many as he can get. I like your idea though Hypercat, but yeah the site could just keep more boxes out to make it even on the interface.

 

[Pyra]

I'm guessing 12. Keep it classic. Cut or deconfirm where needed.

 

[MargnetMan23]

I'm guessing 12. Keep it classic. Cut or deconfirm where needed.

But 13 characters are confirmed already...
DON'T WORRY THEY'LL CUT MARIO!

 

[RODO]

45 seems like a good number to me, but sakurai said he wanted to differentiate the characters and make them more unique as opposed to just filling up the roster with a ton of characters. At 45 or 50 I just see too many clones/semi clones sticking around.

 

[Pyra]

But 13 characters are confirmed already...
DON'T WORRY THEY'LL CUT MARIO!

I MADE SURE TO MENTION DECONFIRMING.

Bye, Moogamon

 

[ScorchMuffins]

Im going to guess 40, seems like reasonable upgrade to me.

 

[Sarki Soliloquy]

Time for some arithmetic! Blue for veteran starter, Red for veteran secret, Green for newcomer starter, Yellow for newcomer secret. Transformations are all counted even though I usually go by the count of the character select screen when roster crafting.

Smash 64

8 + 4 = 12

Melee

10 + 2 + 5 + 9 = 26

Brawl

13 + 8 + 12 + 6 = 40

Veteran to Newcomer Ratios:

64: 0/12
Melee: 12/14
Brawl: 21/18

All characters from 64 debuted in that game, so they all count as newcomers. There is a difference from equal distribution of veterans and newcomers in Melee by 2 and in Brawl by 3.

In SSB4, I think Sakurai should aim for 45 or even 50 given he wants to add as much characters as he possibly can for this installment. Going slightly over Brawl by 5 (not so much 10, but the more the merrier) seems like a reasonable, data-conscious expansion. The character totals in each game have always been even. So should Wii U/3DS.

 

[Lemonwater]

I don't think the sort of format on this site is indicative of how the selection screen in the actual game will be laid out. I don't see any reliable evidence that the formatting on the site is connected in any way to the formatting on the game. There's no actual grid, no general shape, no real clear-cut organization. Nothing.

Also, I don't see rows of 9 when I'm on my phone.

 

[Rocket Raccoon]

How many characters I want? All of them.

 

[SirGalvan]

wouldnt mind getting 54 but feeling like we are getting more towards the 45

 

[Hong]

Ha ha. Pretty funny OP. As if web design would be any inidcation of game design.

As for roster size, I will be impressed if we surpass 40. I don't think you can really rely on charts, graphs and patterns when the design philosophy has completely changed. As stated by the direction on several occasions, they are focusing on more meaningful, unique additions. I expect less semi-clones. In any event, I rather have too few than too many. Lots of characters in Brawl played like ****.