GreatGonzales
Smash Apprentice
About a month ago, I embarked on a project I called "The Great Smash Census". I would like to add a subtitle: "How to prove with numbers what you've long suspected already." As I promised back then, please enjoy the detailed results of the census. A lot of my sweat and blood went into this, so I hope you like it!
Click Here to View Final Results in Full
First, I will share a few key details about this survey:
The census period ended with a whopping 733* respondents between the dates of 7/20/2013 and 8/12/2013. My goal was to poll the hardcore Smash community - those individuals who love the series the very most. My means of isolating such individuals, of course, was to post the survey on prominent online Smash communities such as Smashboards. The survey was shared at the following locations: Smashboards (Wii U General, Brawl General, Melee General, 64 General), GameFAQs, AllisBrawl, and the Smash Modding Community.
* An error on my part allowed 41 respondents to submit surveys on the dates of 8/19-8/21. These surveys have not been incorporated into my analysis.
N: Competitive = 411; Non-Competitive = 315
I define a "Competitive" player as a player who has participated in at least one tournament, and has played the corresponding Smash game "a lot" or "a ridiculous amount". Melee is generally considered the most hardcore Smash title; Brawl the most casual. This data confirms that conventional wisdom.
N: Extremely Skilled: 76; Very Skilled = 253; Moderately Skilled = 368; Not Very Skilled = 29
Player skill was self-identified in this survey, so we should take this with a grain of salt. However, I must say that respondents were quite modest, only 76 claiming to be "extremely" skilled. Perhaps unsurprisingly, that group heavily favors Melee.
N: Uses Wavedashing/L-Canceling = 460; Does Not Use Wavedashing/L-Canceling = 266
Here, I have isolated respondents who utilize tech abilities "wavedashing" and "L-canceling" when playing Melee, which is the only game where these abilities appear. Those who use tech heavily favor Melee; those who do not use tech heavily favor Brawl.
N: Plays all 3 games a lot/ridiculous amount = 239; Played all 3 games, but not all of them a lot = 408; Hasn't played all 3 games = 79
This was my attempt to isolate the people who have played Smash the hardest and longest, using their self-identified play frequency as a guide. However, there doesn't appear to be a correlation here.
N: Always = 71; Usually = 91; Sometimes = 180; Rarely = 208; Never = 176
I like this graph. Look at how well a preference for Brawl correlates with high item usage, and how well a preference for Melee correlates with low item usage! I think that "item usage during non-competitive play" is a good way to assess the "casualness" of a player, so this graph tells us much about player attitudes towards the Smash games.
N: Most Played is also Favorite Game = 607; Most Played is NOT Favorite Game = 119
In addition to favorite game, respondents were also asked to identify their most played game. Unsurprisingly, there is high correlation between a game being the most played and also being the respondent's favorite game.
2. Attitudes towards wavedashing and L-canceling.
As everyone here knows, there's perhaps no subject more debated than the virtues/ills of including wavedashing and L-canceling in future Smash installments. I will break down the two camps across a number of variables. But first, we should ask the question - does everyone really CARE about wavedashing and L-canceling?
N: Yes = 473; No = 253
The answer is: Yes, mostly. But a significant portion - over a third - of the community simply does not care about whether wavedashing and L-canceling make it into future games. If you are one of those people, you can skip to the next section!
N: Uses wavedashing = 403; Does not use wavedashing = 323
N: Uses L Canceling = 419; Does not use L Canceling = 307
This is the question I was most interested in asking: How do respondents' attitudes on wavedashing and L-canceling break down if we isolate those who actually USE wavedashing/L-canceling, from those who do not? As you can see, users of these techniques are much more likely to desire them to be included in future Smash games, while those who do not use these techniques are more likely to oppose their inclusion, or, more likely, not care.
N: Super Smash Brothers 64 = 56; Super Smash Brothers Melee = 414; Super Smash Brothers Brawl = 256
N: Super Smash Brothers 64 = 56; Super Smash Brothers Melee = 414; Super Smash Brothers Brawl = 256
Here, I graphed wavedashing/L-canceling attitudes according to the respondent's favorite game. There is no clear correlation one way or the other among respondents favoring SSB64, but unsurprisingly we see Melee and Brawl favoring and unfavoring these tech abilities respectively.
N: Extremely Skilled = 76; Very Skilled = 253; Moderately Skilled = 368; Not Very Skilled = 29
N: Extremely Skilled = 76; Very Skilled = 253; Moderately Skilled = 368; Not Very Skilled = 29
When cross-tabulating according to self-identified player skill, we see a general trend of favoring wavedashing/L-canceling as skill increases, and apathy towards these tech abilities as skill decreases.
N: Competitive = 411; Non-Competitive = 315
N: Competitive = 411; Non-Competitive = 315
Wavedashing and L-canceling are generally considered to be high level techniques, so it is unsurprising that competitive players would favor their inclusion.
3. Gameplay preferences on the Melee to Brawl continuum.
All respondents were asked the following question: "There has been much discussion about the "ideal" smash game in terms of gameplay, especially regarding the fast-paced, hardcore gameplay of Super Smash Brothers Melee, compared to the slower, more casual gameplay of Super Smash Brothers Brawl. For Smash 4, place your gameplay preference on the Melee - Brawl continuum:"
A slight plurality of respondents chose the "Closer to Melee" option, and a majority of respondents chose either "Closer to Melee" or "Exactly like Melee". However, a significant portion of respondents prefer gameplay "In between Melee and Brawl". Let's see how these attitudes break down!
N: Under 18 = 151; 18-24 = 497; 25 and Over = 78
Generally, we see that younger players are more likely to prefer gameplay "In between Melee and Brawl", and older players are more likely to prefer gameplay closer to Melee.
N: Super Smash Brothers 64 = 56; Super Smash Brothers Melee = 414; Super Smash Brothers Brawl = 256
This one is pretty interesting. Unsurprisingly, respondents favoring Melee prefer gameplay closer to Melee. Not a single respondent favoring Melee chose "Closer to Brawl". Likewise, just 1 respondent favoring Brawl chose "Exactly like Melee". Not sure what that person was thinking.
I should also note - there was no option to choose an option favoring gameplay similar to SSB64, and for that I apologize to all you 64 folks out there! It is interesting to see how that group breaks down, with a slight preference for Melee gameplay.
N: Extremely Skilled = 76; Very Skilled = 253; Moderately Skilled = 368; Not Very Skilled = 29
There isn't an obvious correlation here, except within players identifying themselves as "Extremely Skilled". This group of players is the only one to have a plurality in favor of gameplay "Exactly like Melee".
N: Competitive = 411; Non-Competitive = 315
Once again, competitive players favor Melee-like gameplay over non-competitive players. To the informed viewer, this should come as no surprise.
N: Uses Wavedashing/L-Canceling = 460; Doesn't Use Wavedashing/L-Canceling = 266
Here, I isolated respondents who either use wavedashing or L-canceling, or both. This cross-tabulation has perhaps the strongest correlation regarding gameplay preferences.
4. Super Smash Brothers 64 Data.
Enough of that nonsense! Let's talk about preferences about characters and stages for Super Smash Brothers 64!
N = 677
All SSB64 players were asked to identify which characters they play on a regular basis. Therefore, respondents could select multiple characters. Here you see how character usage breaks down - Captain Falcon is the most used!
N = 677
Here, we see which were the most popular (and least popular) characters to "main". Respondents could only select a single character. There is a near three-way tie for first between Fox, Kirby, and Captain Falcon!
N = 87
This is the same as above, except limited to players who have participated in at least one SSB64 tournament AND played SSB64 either "a lot" or "a ridiculous amount". Top tier is basically the same, but there are some shakeups in mid-tier.
N = 677
This is just what it sounds like - the most popular stages among all SSB64 player respondents.
5. Super Smash Brothers Melee Data.
Onto Melee!
N = 714
These are the most used characters among Melee playing respondents. Marth is the big winner - better get used to that idea.
N = 714
Here are the most mained Melee characters using all Melee-playing respondents. Uh, Mewtwo?
N = 283
This is the same as above, except limited to players who have participated in at least one SSBM tournament AND played SSBM either "a lot" or "a ridiculous amount". I don't know about you, but I am surprised to see Link here!
N = 714
Here's a shocker - people love Final Destination!
6. Super Smash Brothers Brawl Data.
Last but not least, it's Brawl's turn!
N = 704
These are the most used characters in SSBB. Marth takes number 1 status yet again!
N = 704
I was expecting Metaknight to be number 1 here. Shows what I know!
N = 195
This is the same as above, except limited to players who have participated in at least one SSBB tournament AND played SSBB either "a lot" or "a ridiculous amount". Note the low percentages here - with so many characters in Brawl, there is not a lot of consensus on the best "main" character. But if this data is any indication, it is Captain Olimar!
N = 704
This was a tough one for a lot of people to decide I am sure, Brawl having a number of excellent maps. In the end, tbough, Smashville is the clear favorite stage.
7. Tier analysis for main characters in 64, Melee, and Brawl.
After doing the analysis of main character usage for all three games, I got to thinking about how "maining" behavior matches up with the generally accepted character tier lists. So I used the tiers found here to inform my analysis. But I had a problem - tiers are not all the same size, containing the same number of characters. This may be fine for the purposes of separating characters into meaningful tiers, but this is bad from a statistics perspective.
So, what I did was I took the number value for each character (for example, Kirby in SSB64 has value "2.36") and then split characters from each game into tier quartiles. Then, I simply took a percentage of character maining for each quartile for all players and also competitive players. I will define the quartiles for each game below.
Quartile 1: Pikachu, Kirby, Fox
Quartile 2: Captain Falcon, Mario, Yoshi
Quartile 3: Donkey Kong, Jigglypuff, Ness
Quartile 4: Link, Luigi, Samus
Quartile 1: Fox, Falco, Sheik, Marth, Jigglypuff, Peach, Captain Falcon
Quartile 2: Ice Climbers, Dr. Mario, Pikachu, Samus, Ganondorf, Luigi
Quartile 3: Mario, Mewtwo, Young Link, Link, Donkey Kong, Yoshi
Quartile 4: Zelda, Roy, Mr. Game & Watch, Ness, Bowser, Pichu, Kirby
Quartile 1: Meta Knight, Ice Climbers, Captain Olimar, Diddy Kong, Marth, Snake, Falco, Pikachu, Zero Suit Samus, Wario
Quartile 2: Lucario, King Dedede, Toon Link, Wolf, Fox, Mr. Game & Watch, Pit, R.O.B., Peach
Quartile 3: Kirby, Donkey Kong, Sonic, Ike, Sheik, Ness, Yoshi, Luigi, Pokemon Trainer
Quartile 4: Lucas, Mario, Samus, Bowser, Captain Falcon, Link, Jigglypuff, Zelda, Ganondorf
8. Analysis of item usage in non-competitive play.
This was just something I was interested in, and there isn't a good place to stick it in this post, so here it is!
N: Extremely Skilled = 76; Very Skilled = 253; Moderately Skilled = 368; Not Very Skilled = 29
There appears to be a moderate correlation between player skill and the extent to which a player uses items in non-competitive play. Look at the values for "Always" and "Never" across the skill levels.
N: Competitive = 411; Non-Competitive = 315
Likewise, we see competitive players using items less than non-competitive players.
9. Most desired characters in Super Smash Brothers 4.
All respondents were asked to identify their most desired unannounced character in Smash 4. I have cleaned the responses and separated veteran and newcomer characters.
N = 481
Coming in at number one is...Mewtwo! How about that. It does seem likely to me that we will see a Mewtwo return, albeit possibly in the new form.
N = 238
According to this data, Ridley is the most desired newcomer character. However, please take this with a grain of salt; as many respondents pointed out, this question was regrettably lacking in newcomer character options, so much of these characters were entered manually using the "Other" option.
10. Attitudes towards purchasing Smash 4.
This section wasn't planned until I noticed something interesting - 20% of respondents reportedly have no plan of purchasing Smash 4 in either form. I wanted to see if there were any trends related to these people who selected "Neither"...
N: Wii U = 243; 3DS = 53; Both = 287; Neither = 143
Check that out! There has been much talk of disgruntled Melee players, and here you have it - among respondents not planning to purchase Smash 4, an overwhelming percentage of them have Super Smash Brothers Melee as their favorite game. But we shouldn't end there:
N: Super Smash Brothers 64 = 56; Super Smash Brothers Melee = 414; Super Smash Brothers Brawl = 256
Pretty interesting! It's actually respondents who favor Super Smash Brothers 64 who are least likely to purchase Smash 4. What a strong correlation. One possible explanation is: older players tended to prefer Super Smash Brothers 64, and older players are also less likely to be eager gamers in the future. Speaking for myself, I'm 28 and definitely not as into games as I used to be. That being said, I do plan to purchase Smash 4, so...
Well, there you have it folks. Please take a look and let me know what you think. I have the capability to run custom reports, so if there is a question that wasn't answered in my analysis that you are curious about, let me know and I'll see what I can do.
Click Here to View Final Results in Full
First, I will share a few key details about this survey:
The census period ended with a whopping 733* respondents between the dates of 7/20/2013 and 8/12/2013. My goal was to poll the hardcore Smash community - those individuals who love the series the very most. My means of isolating such individuals, of course, was to post the survey on prominent online Smash communities such as Smashboards. The survey was shared at the following locations: Smashboards (Wii U General, Brawl General, Melee General, 64 General), GameFAQs, AllisBrawl, and the Smash Modding Community.
* An error on my part allowed 41 respondents to submit surveys on the dates of 8/19-8/21. These surveys have not been incorporated into my analysis.
Assuming a normally distributed random sample of the forum population (which may be a big assumption), we can be 95% certain that the reported values are accurate within a +/- 3.61% margin of error. This assumes that the total population of the forum smash community is 120,787, which is the number of registered Smashboards users as of writing this. I figure this is probably a conservative estimate of the total population since a large number of these users are inactive.
On with the show!
1. What is the most beloved Smash game?
Let's begin with the basic question: What is the favorite Smash game?
As you can see from the full results, a majority of respondents favor Super Smash Brothers Melee, then Super Smash Brothers Brawl, and finally Super Smash Brothers 64. But let's unpack those numbers a bit to see if there are any patterns...
N: Under 18 = 151; 18-24 = 497; 25 and Over = 78
We would expect that younger players to prefer newer games; older players to prefer older games. The data largely confirms this hypothesis.
N: Competitive = 411; Non-Competitive = 315
I define a "Competitive" player as a player who has participated in at least one tournament, and has played the corresponding Smash game "a lot" or "a ridiculous amount". Melee is generally considered the most hardcore Smash title; Brawl the most casual. This data confirms that conventional wisdom.
N: Extremely Skilled: 76; Very Skilled = 253; Moderately Skilled = 368; Not Very Skilled = 29
Player skill was self-identified in this survey, so we should take this with a grain of salt. However, I must say that respondents were quite modest, only 76 claiming to be "extremely" skilled. Perhaps unsurprisingly, that group heavily favors Melee.
N: Uses Wavedashing/L-Canceling = 460; Does Not Use Wavedashing/L-Canceling = 266
Here, I have isolated respondents who utilize tech abilities "wavedashing" and "L-canceling" when playing Melee, which is the only game where these abilities appear. Those who use tech heavily favor Melee; those who do not use tech heavily favor Brawl.
N: Plays all 3 games a lot/ridiculous amount = 239; Played all 3 games, but not all of them a lot = 408; Hasn't played all 3 games = 79
This was my attempt to isolate the people who have played Smash the hardest and longest, using their self-identified play frequency as a guide. However, there doesn't appear to be a correlation here.
N: Always = 71; Usually = 91; Sometimes = 180; Rarely = 208; Never = 176
I like this graph. Look at how well a preference for Brawl correlates with high item usage, and how well a preference for Melee correlates with low item usage! I think that "item usage during non-competitive play" is a good way to assess the "casualness" of a player, so this graph tells us much about player attitudes towards the Smash games.
N: Most Played is also Favorite Game = 607; Most Played is NOT Favorite Game = 119
In addition to favorite game, respondents were also asked to identify their most played game. Unsurprisingly, there is high correlation between a game being the most played and also being the respondent's favorite game.
2. Attitudes towards wavedashing and L-canceling.
As everyone here knows, there's perhaps no subject more debated than the virtues/ills of including wavedashing and L-canceling in future Smash installments. I will break down the two camps across a number of variables. But first, we should ask the question - does everyone really CARE about wavedashing and L-canceling?
N: Yes = 473; No = 253
The answer is: Yes, mostly. But a significant portion - over a third - of the community simply does not care about whether wavedashing and L-canceling make it into future games. If you are one of those people, you can skip to the next section!
N: Uses wavedashing = 403; Does not use wavedashing = 323
N: Uses L Canceling = 419; Does not use L Canceling = 307
This is the question I was most interested in asking: How do respondents' attitudes on wavedashing and L-canceling break down if we isolate those who actually USE wavedashing/L-canceling, from those who do not? As you can see, users of these techniques are much more likely to desire them to be included in future Smash games, while those who do not use these techniques are more likely to oppose their inclusion, or, more likely, not care.
N: Super Smash Brothers 64 = 56; Super Smash Brothers Melee = 414; Super Smash Brothers Brawl = 256
N: Super Smash Brothers 64 = 56; Super Smash Brothers Melee = 414; Super Smash Brothers Brawl = 256
Here, I graphed wavedashing/L-canceling attitudes according to the respondent's favorite game. There is no clear correlation one way or the other among respondents favoring SSB64, but unsurprisingly we see Melee and Brawl favoring and unfavoring these tech abilities respectively.
N: Extremely Skilled = 76; Very Skilled = 253; Moderately Skilled = 368; Not Very Skilled = 29
N: Extremely Skilled = 76; Very Skilled = 253; Moderately Skilled = 368; Not Very Skilled = 29
When cross-tabulating according to self-identified player skill, we see a general trend of favoring wavedashing/L-canceling as skill increases, and apathy towards these tech abilities as skill decreases.
N: Competitive = 411; Non-Competitive = 315
N: Competitive = 411; Non-Competitive = 315
Wavedashing and L-canceling are generally considered to be high level techniques, so it is unsurprising that competitive players would favor their inclusion.
3. Gameplay preferences on the Melee to Brawl continuum.
All respondents were asked the following question: "There has been much discussion about the "ideal" smash game in terms of gameplay, especially regarding the fast-paced, hardcore gameplay of Super Smash Brothers Melee, compared to the slower, more casual gameplay of Super Smash Brothers Brawl. For Smash 4, place your gameplay preference on the Melee - Brawl continuum:"
A slight plurality of respondents chose the "Closer to Melee" option, and a majority of respondents chose either "Closer to Melee" or "Exactly like Melee". However, a significant portion of respondents prefer gameplay "In between Melee and Brawl". Let's see how these attitudes break down!
N: Under 18 = 151; 18-24 = 497; 25 and Over = 78
Generally, we see that younger players are more likely to prefer gameplay "In between Melee and Brawl", and older players are more likely to prefer gameplay closer to Melee.
N: Super Smash Brothers 64 = 56; Super Smash Brothers Melee = 414; Super Smash Brothers Brawl = 256
This one is pretty interesting. Unsurprisingly, respondents favoring Melee prefer gameplay closer to Melee. Not a single respondent favoring Melee chose "Closer to Brawl". Likewise, just 1 respondent favoring Brawl chose "Exactly like Melee". Not sure what that person was thinking.
I should also note - there was no option to choose an option favoring gameplay similar to SSB64, and for that I apologize to all you 64 folks out there! It is interesting to see how that group breaks down, with a slight preference for Melee gameplay.
N: Extremely Skilled = 76; Very Skilled = 253; Moderately Skilled = 368; Not Very Skilled = 29
There isn't an obvious correlation here, except within players identifying themselves as "Extremely Skilled". This group of players is the only one to have a plurality in favor of gameplay "Exactly like Melee".
N: Competitive = 411; Non-Competitive = 315
Once again, competitive players favor Melee-like gameplay over non-competitive players. To the informed viewer, this should come as no surprise.
N: Uses Wavedashing/L-Canceling = 460; Doesn't Use Wavedashing/L-Canceling = 266
Here, I isolated respondents who either use wavedashing or L-canceling, or both. This cross-tabulation has perhaps the strongest correlation regarding gameplay preferences.
4. Super Smash Brothers 64 Data.
Enough of that nonsense! Let's talk about preferences about characters and stages for Super Smash Brothers 64!
N = 677
All SSB64 players were asked to identify which characters they play on a regular basis. Therefore, respondents could select multiple characters. Here you see how character usage breaks down - Captain Falcon is the most used!
N = 677
Here, we see which were the most popular (and least popular) characters to "main". Respondents could only select a single character. There is a near three-way tie for first between Fox, Kirby, and Captain Falcon!
N = 87
This is the same as above, except limited to players who have participated in at least one SSB64 tournament AND played SSB64 either "a lot" or "a ridiculous amount". Top tier is basically the same, but there are some shakeups in mid-tier.
N = 677
This is just what it sounds like - the most popular stages among all SSB64 player respondents.
5. Super Smash Brothers Melee Data.
Onto Melee!
N = 714
These are the most used characters among Melee playing respondents. Marth is the big winner - better get used to that idea.
N = 714
Here are the most mained Melee characters using all Melee-playing respondents. Uh, Mewtwo?
N = 283
This is the same as above, except limited to players who have participated in at least one SSBM tournament AND played SSBM either "a lot" or "a ridiculous amount". I don't know about you, but I am surprised to see Link here!
N = 714
Here's a shocker - people love Final Destination!
6. Super Smash Brothers Brawl Data.
Last but not least, it's Brawl's turn!
N = 704
These are the most used characters in SSBB. Marth takes number 1 status yet again!
N = 704
I was expecting Metaknight to be number 1 here. Shows what I know!
N = 195
This is the same as above, except limited to players who have participated in at least one SSBB tournament AND played SSBB either "a lot" or "a ridiculous amount". Note the low percentages here - with so many characters in Brawl, there is not a lot of consensus on the best "main" character. But if this data is any indication, it is Captain Olimar!
N = 704
This was a tough one for a lot of people to decide I am sure, Brawl having a number of excellent maps. In the end, tbough, Smashville is the clear favorite stage.
7. Tier analysis for main characters in 64, Melee, and Brawl.
After doing the analysis of main character usage for all three games, I got to thinking about how "maining" behavior matches up with the generally accepted character tier lists. So I used the tiers found here to inform my analysis. But I had a problem - tiers are not all the same size, containing the same number of characters. This may be fine for the purposes of separating characters into meaningful tiers, but this is bad from a statistics perspective.
So, what I did was I took the number value for each character (for example, Kirby in SSB64 has value "2.36") and then split characters from each game into tier quartiles. Then, I simply took a percentage of character maining for each quartile for all players and also competitive players. I will define the quartiles for each game below.
Quartile 1: Pikachu, Kirby, Fox
Quartile 2: Captain Falcon, Mario, Yoshi
Quartile 3: Donkey Kong, Jigglypuff, Ness
Quartile 4: Link, Luigi, Samus
Quartile 1: Fox, Falco, Sheik, Marth, Jigglypuff, Peach, Captain Falcon
Quartile 2: Ice Climbers, Dr. Mario, Pikachu, Samus, Ganondorf, Luigi
Quartile 3: Mario, Mewtwo, Young Link, Link, Donkey Kong, Yoshi
Quartile 4: Zelda, Roy, Mr. Game & Watch, Ness, Bowser, Pichu, Kirby
Quartile 1: Meta Knight, Ice Climbers, Captain Olimar, Diddy Kong, Marth, Snake, Falco, Pikachu, Zero Suit Samus, Wario
Quartile 2: Lucario, King Dedede, Toon Link, Wolf, Fox, Mr. Game & Watch, Pit, R.O.B., Peach
Quartile 3: Kirby, Donkey Kong, Sonic, Ike, Sheik, Ness, Yoshi, Luigi, Pokemon Trainer
Quartile 4: Lucas, Mario, Samus, Bowser, Captain Falcon, Link, Jigglypuff, Zelda, Ganondorf
8. Analysis of item usage in non-competitive play.
This was just something I was interested in, and there isn't a good place to stick it in this post, so here it is!
N: Extremely Skilled = 76; Very Skilled = 253; Moderately Skilled = 368; Not Very Skilled = 29
There appears to be a moderate correlation between player skill and the extent to which a player uses items in non-competitive play. Look at the values for "Always" and "Never" across the skill levels.
N: Competitive = 411; Non-Competitive = 315
Likewise, we see competitive players using items less than non-competitive players.
9. Most desired characters in Super Smash Brothers 4.
All respondents were asked to identify their most desired unannounced character in Smash 4. I have cleaned the responses and separated veteran and newcomer characters.
N = 481
Coming in at number one is...Mewtwo! How about that. It does seem likely to me that we will see a Mewtwo return, albeit possibly in the new form.
N = 238
According to this data, Ridley is the most desired newcomer character. However, please take this with a grain of salt; as many respondents pointed out, this question was regrettably lacking in newcomer character options, so much of these characters were entered manually using the "Other" option.
10. Attitudes towards purchasing Smash 4.
This section wasn't planned until I noticed something interesting - 20% of respondents reportedly have no plan of purchasing Smash 4 in either form. I wanted to see if there were any trends related to these people who selected "Neither"...
N: Wii U = 243; 3DS = 53; Both = 287; Neither = 143
Check that out! There has been much talk of disgruntled Melee players, and here you have it - among respondents not planning to purchase Smash 4, an overwhelming percentage of them have Super Smash Brothers Melee as their favorite game. But we shouldn't end there:
N: Super Smash Brothers 64 = 56; Super Smash Brothers Melee = 414; Super Smash Brothers Brawl = 256
Pretty interesting! It's actually respondents who favor Super Smash Brothers 64 who are least likely to purchase Smash 4. What a strong correlation. One possible explanation is: older players tended to prefer Super Smash Brothers 64, and older players are also less likely to be eager gamers in the future. Speaking for myself, I'm 28 and definitely not as into games as I used to be. That being said, I do plan to purchase Smash 4, so...
Well, there you have it folks. Please take a look and let me know what you think. I have the capability to run custom reports, so if there is a question that wasn't answered in my analysis that you are curious about, let me know and I'll see what I can do.