well, view it in this way.
If I was not thinking Paper Mario differed enough from the mario series, I would never root for him.
Which is why I consider him to be contributing to series variety, it's just not really the mario series enough to consider him JUST mario.
However, I think characters variety shouldn;t be THAT much dependant on the series. I mean, I could if I wanted put G&W and rob in the same greoup as "hardware series", but considering how different they are......it just would not make sense and ANYWAY, they both alone contribute to variety.
Look, if rosalina was added, i';m SURE it was because of the variety in her character, not because of the series.
Which explains why I still never got that infamous argument....but I actually think you said EXACTLY what I wanted to hear: people consider the word "variety" on a different scale.
basically, I'm more of an open guy, for me, to think a character contributes to the variety of the whole roster, it should have a quite distinctive playstyle that makes me feel I'm playing someone that isn;t anyone else on the roster and is so different that it makes playing interesting. Semi clone for me are fine because they are a great balance between more variety and less characters. They of course adds very little variety as they are only derivation, but between that and not having them, I would choose the former.
However, I think you're more closed than me. For you, maybe the series is mroe what defines the variety, but when I look at it, series are simply strings and icons. This is smash, it is an abstraction of what would happen if all these characters was fighting eachother. To prove my abstraction, the simple logo of the smash series is very generic and yet, so much reflecting smash. It's more of an universal experience than anything. what this means is when you look at it, it;s almost like the origins of the characters matters less because smash is more an abstraction....it';s more focused ont he characters.
it takes all these series to form one. That;s the best way I could describe the whole philosophy of smash.
Whether or not you agree to it, that; up to you, but I can now safely say that what you just told is just what I wanted to hear. i think most people actually have that reaosns....which would explain so much.
Basically, i would have to promote his variety in general rather than focusing on why he isn;t just another mario. Cause the real problem is I spent more time trying to disprove that, but the real problem was that people would need to consider variety on a broader scale than series.....which is doable by actually showing the variety.....
Well, I must say, I didn;t expected to get my answers THAT quickly (based on my past experience of this thread....i actually expected to get blasted...).
Thanks!
If it helps explain my stance, look at it this way:
If, instead of adding Robin, we instead went 3rd-party and added Kratos Aurion (similar Magic Knight moveset potential) from the Tales series, I'd consider that more variety, and thus a better addition (even despite begging for Robin months before his announcement, and having Fire Emblem as my favorite series ever). If, instead of Lucina, we'd gotten Alucard from Castlevania with the otherwise same moveset, I'd prefer that for the variety.
You mention that Rosalina was added because of character design options, not series. I agree, but all the same I would value her more if she was any other puppeteer character from any other game, instead of yet another Mario character (even moreso since she's from games I've hardly touched and don't honestly plan to).
Call it closed if you wish. I'm one of those people who gets irked when trophy descriptions are inaccurate about their source material. Representing these characters from their source games is about 90% of its charm to me (I don't play any other fighting games, except occasional bouts of Tatsunoko vs Capcom because I like Megaman and Tekkaman Blade). But this reminds me of something someone said on the Project M threads about who should be included via clone engine. With so many movesets to choose from (and indeed, for them, a large degree of creative freedom to make things up), you reach a wider audience by branching into a new series, or fleshing out a less-developed one, than by expanding on an existing one. In an approximation of someone's words, "Adding more Mario characters just puts more icing on their already sweet cake. Adding more Mother or Fire Emblem or F-Zero characters puts some needed icing on the cake. Adding Golden Sun or Advance Wars characters bakes an entirely new cake someone else can enjoy."
Think about how many games, franchises, series' you'd have never played or heard of without Smash. Speaking personally, I'd have never played Earthbound, Starfox, Fire Emblem, Ice Climber, or Kid Icarus, without their representatives appearing in Smash. Heck, many people forget that Captain Falcon
isn't from Smash, since it popularized him, and it's been his only representation outside of virtual console for nigh a decade (Mother is in a similar boat). Even
with Smash representation, hardly anyone has played Xenoblade, Gyromite, F-Zero, Earthbound (at least pre-Wii U VC release), or Ice Climber.
That sort of feeling is why, when asked who I'd rather add to the game, I'll never answer with a Mario, Zelda, or Pokemon character. And as much as I love it, I wouldn't even answer with a Fire Emblem character now. I want existing Smash fans to be exposed to so many other awesome games, just as I want the fans of these other games to have their interest piqued in Smash. It's because I have a love for the series' Smash is comprised of, moreso than for Smash for its own sake.
And of course, when they do end up adding more Marios and Pokemans and whatnot, I'm glad to use those characters. I hate PKMN Gen 6 and water-types as a whole, but Greninja's fun and adds a lot to the game. I more or less lost interest in the main Mario franchise before I bothered playing Sunshine or Galaxy, but because Rosalina and Bowser Jr are unique and interesting characters, I enjoy using them like I enjoy most any other character. Does it mean I'd have voted for them if I knew they'd turn out completely fresh and unique mechanically? Absolutely not. But since they're here, I appreciate their contributions.
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