I have to say I'm a little surprised at how things went down yesterday. I expected Pac-Man to be revealed at the end of the Digital Presentation, and Palutena to be confirmed later, after the Invitational, for the simple reason that Pac-Man is far more recognizable and would have made for a bigger hype moment than Palutena, (See: Mega Man's reveal last year, or Snake's Brawl reveal- third party characters have been used as the biggest hype machines) who seems like she would be basically unknown to anyone who hasn't played the games and who doesn't bother reading any SSB speculation.
I actually really enjoyed all three trailers, Palutena's least simply because hers was literally the least biggest surprise of all Smash Bros. newcomers so far, and because I haven't seen the Kid Icarus anime (that
is a thing, right?) it was clearly referencing, so those two factors combined kept me from enjoying it to the fullest, though I still think it was great.
I loved Pac-Man's trailer for all of it's retro goodness. It was very well done and I felt it really emphasized Pac-Man's importance to gaming and just how iconic he is, especially standing next to Mario, Mega Man, and Sonic. My only complaint is that I wish I had seen the trailer first, before knowing what it was, rather than watching it on the official site after seeing the Pic of the Day. It would have made a bigger impact.
By the way, congrats Pac-Fans. I am seriously happy and excited for you.
My absolute favorite trailer was, ironically, the one that revealed the character I was least excited for.
Seeing Iwata and Reggie face off in what was probably the most ridiculously dorky and yet simultaneously epic battle I have ever seen in my life was both hilarious and awesome. I've watched it at least three times and was grinning like an idiot throughout the whole thing each time, and probably will do so again when I watch it in the future.
Since it had lacked the now-iconic and, I thought, mandatory flaming Smash Bros. logo intro, I wasn't 100% sure what I was seeing at first, but I still found it immensely enjoyable. After the Smash Bros. logo finally appeared, I had a brief moment of thinking, "Oh, please don't confirm Reggie and Iwata as newcomers," but then I saw the Mii boots and realized what it was. I think my initial reaction to seeing the Mi Fighters was something like
"..." but once Sakurai explained how they worked I became more okay with the idea.
I am going to eat a bit of crow now, and save a bit for later in case Sal is proven 100% correct, because prior to this week, I considered Miis to have sort of a 50/50 chance, or perhaps it would be more accurate to say 49/51, because I was leaning toward them not making the cut. For every reason I could think of why they were likely, I could think of a counterargument, and I felt that the odds were stacked slightly against them, my biggest concern being what I call the Mii Hitler Conundrum. I am very glad to see that I was correct in predicting/hoping that, if Miis were playable, that they would not be playable With Anyone online, which pretty much solves the aforementioned Conundrum.
Overall, I am okay with the Mii Fighters' inclusion, and I am happy for the people who really wanted them.