Official DLC Speculation Discussion Volume II

[Rie Sonomura]

Our first event/board/tourney of this year!

Will it be a deconfirmation or not!? We'll see tonight!

FORTNITE SPIRIT EVENT FORTNITE SPIRIT EVENT

if not that, then either Undertale or... for some reason, Overwatch

 

[PeridotGX]

thank you for using not this, sakurai.

 

[I.D.]

This is a good deal for NLG. That's essentially job security. This is also Nintendo's first purchase since Monolith right?

Yes. Not very common of Nintendo to purchase studios.

 

[PeridotGX]

Can they buy Grezzo next? They're the people that did the Zelda remakes, they've been working with nintendo for almost as long as NLG has.

I saw someone mention they could become Nintendo's dedicated remake studio (like Bluepoint is for Sony)

 

[Swamp Sensei]

Come to think of it.

When do you think we will hear Nintendo's plans for 2021? Like will there be a direct? More twitter drops?

 

[Rie Sonomura]

Come to think of it.

When do you think we will hear Nintendo's plans for 2021? Like will there be a direct? More twitter drops?

Depends on how the vaccine handles things over there really

if the virus is still rampaging expect Twitter drops and/or minis to be the norm still

 

[Arcane Jill]

Come to think of it.

When do you think we will hear Nintendo's plans for 2021? Like will there be a direct? More twitter drops?

Feel like it will be done through Twitter mainly, but they will also experiment with new ways to relay news like the Partner Showcases. Covid is still going strong, so I doubt we will get a regular Direct any time soon.

 

[PeridotGX]

a quick reminder that the first half of the year is always really weak for the switch, so there's gonna be a news drought.

 

[Firox]

The last time we got a big guy with a big sword was when they gave DORIYAH to Ganondorf.

This was exactly what I had in mind when I imagined what Nightmare would be like. Big slow guy with a huge sword. One is more than enough for me.

 

[LiveStudioAudience]

Its hard to predict the nature of Nintendo releases and news this time around because we really don't know internally how much COVID has effected development and pushed games back. The first half of 2021 might have gotten unintentional strengthened via titles that were supposed to come out last year.

 

[PeridotGX]

Its hard to predict the nature of Nintendo releases and news this time around because we really don't know internally how much COVID has effected development and pushed games back. The first half of 2021 might have gotten unintentional strengthened via titles that were supposed to come out last year.

NINTENDO 2021 BALANCE PATCH VER 2.0

-Zelda HD collectiondelayed to Q3 2021

-F-Zero NX delayed to Q3 2021

-3D World + Bowsers Fury now releasing in 2021

-2D Metroid now releasing in 2021

-Pokemon, Smash, Bayonetta unchanged

ARMS 2 delayed, now will promote the movie

 

[Cutie Gwen]

I guess it counts as news for upcoming Switch stuff

Tune into the Monster Hunter Digital Event – January 2021 for big news and reveals on Monster Hunter Rise. #MHRise

📺 https://t.co/8IzgK7w1Wf pic.twitter.com/WuLmFcWlmd

— Monster Hunter (@monsterhunter) January 5, 2021

 

[Rie Sonomura]

NINTENDO 2021 BALANCE PATCH VER 2.0

View attachment 298373-Zelda HD collectiondelayed to Q3 2021
View attachment 298373-F-Zero NX delayed to Q3 2021
View attachment 298372-3D World + Bowsers Fury now releasing in 2021
View attachment 298372-2D Metroid now releasing in 2021
View attachment 298371-Pokemon, Smash, Bayonetta unchanged
View attachment 298371ARMS 2 delayed, now will promote the movie

You forgot:
(Red dot cuz I’m on mobile) Xenoblade Chronicles X Definitive Edition delayed to January 2022

Pls throw me a bone im desperate

 

[Dinoman96]

I still feel confident that if we're getting an FY1 General Direct this year, it's going to be in March, and that's where we'll see the next DLC fighter.

 

[AlphaSSB]

I still sometimes think about how Sakurai essentially created an entirely new design for Wolf (outside of his head being based on Zero), compared to how Starlink (which came out around the same time) just used his Zero design wholesale.

Star Fox talk? I have been summoned.
Sakurai and the art team pretty much did the same in Brawl, just to a lesser degree. Just look at Wolf's trophies from Brawl and Wii U. Lots of differences between the two, with the head really being the only thing retained. Colors, armor, etc. all changed or completely redone. They also added a good bit of purple with Wolf in Brawl, but really doubled-down with it in Ultimate.

Hey Sakurai, if you like redesigning Wolf so much, how about you make a Star Fox game..?

 

[Eldrake]

Hey Sakurai, if you like redesigning Wolf so much, how about you make a Star Fox game..?

Maybe it's less a Star Fox game Sakurai wants to make, and more a Star Wolf game, but Miyamoto is like "no".

 

[waddledeeonredyoshi]

I just hope this purchase can amount to a new Punch-Out game in some way.

 

[Perkilator]

Our first event/board/tourney of this year!

Will it be a deconfirmation or not!? We'll see tonight!

Inb4 it’s a Spirit Event based on numbers or some pants like that.

 

[RoboFist]

If you want to convince people a Pokemon is going to happen, you're going to need more evidence than just "It's gonna happen and it sucks, doom and gloom."

I think it's more a case of people trying to temper their expectations and preparing themselves for disappointment. Which isn't exactly the most constructive attitude to have on a forum like this, but I get it. As far as we know, we only have three characters left before this incredible phenomenon that is Smash Ultimate wraps up. The thought of another Pokemon joining the roster (and one from one of the most publicly controversial titles in the series, at that) would be a huge oof to a lot of us. Better to be prepared rather than blindsided by it.

You know, some people claim Ryu Hayabusa is the last NES All Star MIA from the roster. But most people in this community forget about Bill Rizer/Lance Bean from Contra, Arthur from Ghost 'N Goblins, Jimmy Lee/Billy Lee from Double Dragon, and Rash, Zitz, and Pimple from Battletoads. It's surreal these iconic characters don't have a big or notable support base in the Smash community with how big their games were on the NES. Literally, these guys along with Ryu Hayabusa are the last remaining big NES All Stars.

Getting Contra content in Smash would be an absolute gotdang delight...

People are probably leaning toward Hayabusa because of both his developer and his moveset. Unlike the other characters mentioned, Tecmo doesn't have a rep in the game yet. And we don't have an actual katana-weilding ninja on the roster yet. He's far from my hypest pick (more of a "Oh that makes sense" pick like Hero was to me), but I think some people see more than just "the final NES legacy character".

Yeah, but it's weird no one even brings up the other 3rd party NES All Stars in a serious discussion once in awhile. No one one brought up Simon or Castlevania in Smash until Vergeben arrived on the scene.

This is super petty of me, but I've just gotta say that I've been advocating for Simon to get in from the second I saw Megaman's Smash 4 reveal trailer...just saying...

So... When do y'all think we'll reach the point where we'll know either when Fighter's Pass 2 is the end or they're making a Fighter's Pass 3?

The vibe I've been getting from Sakurai's interviews about FP2 has always been that this is it. He's more or less been saying it without saying it.

That being said, everyone knows how Smash content sells, so I could see at the very most Nintendo popping into the offices of Sora Ltd. maybe a year after this pass wraps up and going "Heyyyyy so how about a surprise Smash DLC drop next E3?" One more random, unannounced, surprise character reveal even that late in the game's lifespan would generate a ton of hype all over again and just be smart business.

But I think the Fighters Pass formula is done after this. Which is good, in my opinion. Let Sakurai and his team take a nap.

Funny you mention that...

FUN FACT: Next-Level Games' Mario Strikers series is one of the major reasons Nintendo clamped down hard on portrayals of Mario.

Which is honestly pretty funny.

— Imran Khan (@imranzomg) January 5, 2021

The Wahoominati strikes again.

This is news to me and physically hurts haha. Strikers had the most expressive versions of these characters I've ever seen and single handedly began salvaging Daisy from her meme-status hell brought about by Double Dash.

Between this and the whole "No unique character traits in Paper Mario" rule, I wish I could read the minds of some of these execs and understand why they hate their own characters so much...?

This was exactly what I had in mind when I imagined what Nightmare would be like. Big slow guy with a huge sword. One is more than enough for me.

Let's not forget that Soul Edge literally eats its victims souls and makes Nightmare stronger as a result. And how Sakurai loves to use unique mechanics with his DLC picks. A self-healing Doriyah sounds...well, damn, nightmarish.

 

[Eldrake]

Our first event/board/tourney of this year!

Will it be a deconfirmation or not!? We'll see tonight!

Sakurai blindsides us this year by making it something that never had a realistic chance in Smash anyway, like classical movie characters.

 

[SMAASH! Puppy]

even the Wario Land: Shake It! track is just a remix of Wario's Victory Theme from Super Smash Bros. Brawl (and the whole series, but Brawl released prior to Shake It!) as confirmed by Shake It!'s composer.

Wait it's...not the other way around?

Huh...Wario's representation is so weird he is the only character who's victory theme is completely made up...Well...He and Mr. Game & Watch.

thank you for using not this, sakurai.

I think the design overall is fine (proportions are wonky though), but the Smash design is 1000% better. Probably my favorite visual design in the entire series.

Did you...did you just disrespect Wily Fortress 1?

I was going to respond with a joke but I actually don't know which Wily 1 you're talking about since almost all of them are called the same thing. I would assume Mega Man 2, but that is already in the Mega Man 2 Medley, and it's really good.

My personal favorite Wily 1 theme is Mega Man 7's. It sounds like something you would find in an older movie or show like McGyver.

I fixed that typo for you.

Gravity Man's theme is also quite good, but I'm not really a fan of the remix they added of it.

I'm happy for my Vancouver homies, but this doesn't really change that much from a non-business perspective, I don't think. Given the circumstances of the acquisition, I don't think the buyout heralds more to come from Nintendo.

I guess the main hope is that NLG will be able to take a page from Monolith and steadily expand under Nintendo, allowing them to tackle additional projects, being built up into more of a dextrous, powerhouse developer.

Though technically NST is the first 1st party western studio, Retro is the second, and NLG is the third. But after Project HAMMER NST has seemingly been given the eternal graveyard shift, sadly.

It might have one difference in that it may allow more creative liberties with the Super Mario IP. It seems like in-house Nintendo can do whatever it wants, so perhaps that would extend here (or maybe such an extent has already been made, but it's still something interesting to think about).

 

[LiveStudioAudience]

I just hope this purchase can amount to a new Punch-Out game in some way.

I'd love to see a straight up Punch Out sequel as well as a more ambitious title that perhaps takes elements from Ring Fit Adventure and makes a full blown hybrid game. Basically have a deep single player adventure game where you're not only doing fights as Little Mac but doing extensive athletic training with Doc Louis in a variety of ways which pays off against your opponents depending on which skills you've developed.

 

[Firox]

This is news to me and physically hurts haha. Strikers had the most expressive versions of these characters I've ever seen and single handedly began salvaging Daisy from her meme-status hell brought about by Double Dash.

Between this and the whole "No unique character traits in Paper Mario" rule, I wish I could read the minds of some of these execs and understand why they hate their own characters so much...?

SERIOUSLY. This puritanic BS attitude they have towards the Mario franchise makes no sense to me at all. Why force your franchise into voluntary stagnation when the unique depictions offered were the best things about them? I'm still convinced that this attitude on the part of the Nintendo execs is one of the biggest reasons why Mario RPGs in general have had a strained legacy and why original characters like Geno, Fawful and tons of other popular side characters will probably never again see the light of day.

 

[Swamp Sensei]

SERIOUSLY. This puritanic BS attitude they have towards the Mario franchise makes no sense to me at all. Why force your franchise into voluntary stagnation when the unique depictions offered were the best things about them? I'm still convinced that this attitude on the part of the Nintendo execs is one of the biggest reasons why Mario RPGs in general have had a strained legacy and why original characters like Geno, Fawful and tons of other popular side characters will probably never again see the light of day.

To be fair....

Fawful is just straight up dead.

 

[SMAASH! Puppy]

To be fair....

Fawful is just straight up dead.

They could still stick him in the Mario Kart, Mario Sports, and Mario Party series though. It's really weird how none of the RPG characters have so much as touched them.

 

[Firox]

They could still stick him in the Mario Kart, Mario Sports, and Mario Party series though. It's really weird how none of the RPG characters have so much as touched them.

It really says a lot about the Nintendo mindset when they refuse to delve into the massive Mario universe for roster fluff and choose instead to saturate the Mario Kart roster with the likes of metal, baby and doctor variants of the same 8 or so base characters.

 

[osby]

SERIOUSLY. This puritanic BS attitude they have towards the Mario franchise makes no sense to me at all. Why force your franchise into voluntary stagnation when the unique depictions offered were the best things about them? I'm still convinced that this attitude on the part of the Nintendo execs is one of the biggest reasons why Mario RPGs in general have had a strained legacy and why original characters like Geno, Fawful and tons of other popular side characters will probably never again see the light of day.

Geno probably won't see the light of day again because he's owned by another company.

But hey, at least he has Smash cameos.

 

[SKX31]

So let me get this straight

Mario can:

• Get his skull crushed by Ridley
• GET VAPORIZED BY GALEEM
• and narrowly avoid Sephiroth’s sword by his overalls

But he can’t be rightfully A N G E R Y?

this is joke

Mario is Nintendo's Mickey Mouse, after all. Miyamoto's even compared the two.

Guess Miyamoto will soon enough require Charles Martinet to mimic Mickey's "Ho-ho!"

This is news to me and physically hurts haha. Strikers had the most expressive versions of these characters I've ever seen and single handedly began salvaging Daisy from her meme-status hell brought about by Double Dash.

Between this and the whole "No unique character traits in Paper Mario" rule, I wish I could read the minds of some of these execs and understand why they hate their own characters so much...?

SERIOUSLY. This puritanic BS attitude they have towards the Mario franchise makes no sense to me at all. Why force your franchise into voluntary stagnation when the unique depictions offered were the best things about them? I'm still convinced that this attitude on the part of the Nintendo execs is one of the biggest reasons why Mario RPGs in general have had a strained legacy and why original characters like Geno, Fawful and tons of other popular side characters will probably never again see the light of day.

It's definetely not hate - calling it that feels premature if you ask me - it's more likely overprotectiveness and wanting to keep, y'know, the main thing you're known of safe. Mario has a public image a la Mickey Mouse nowadays - and just as Disney has become hyper-concious about Mickey's public image, so has Nintendo become with Mario's. Note a part of the article I linked to Rie:

"Many parents want to keep their children from playing video games," Miyamoto said. "But these same parents have no problem allowing them to watch Disney movies." This contradiction bothers Miyamoto and could thwart his plans to topple Mickey. "We cannot seriously challenge [Disney] unless parents start feeling comfortable about their children playing Nintendo."

Sure, there are other parts that don't exactly fit with Nintendo's handling of the franchise (the creative freedom one, for example), but that explains a lot honestly.

Also, Miyamoto's focus when it comes to "new ways to play" has always been on the controllers, mechanics etc. The characters don't matter to him that much, except to serve the roles they have in the story or introduce a gameplay mechanic. He's not alone within Nintendo's hierarchy when it comes to this view of characters either, even if they might of course differ (I wouldn't be surprised if Iwata held a similar if slightly different view for example).

 

[Firox]

Geno probably won't see the light of day again because he's owned by another company.

But hey, at least he has Smash cameos.

I mean, Smash cameos are something, I guess, but I don't personally feel that being owned by another company is a make or break for a character, especially when it comes to smash. After all, we have likes of Banjo, Steve and Sephiroth for cripes sake. I'm fairly convinced that Geno's exclusion, and basically the exclusion of all extended Mario universe characters, is the result of the stubborn, senile old farts running Nintendo and their proven unwillingness to accept anything outside their tiny comfort zone. This would also explain why Nintendo's online capabilities are still almost a full decade behind their competitors.

 

[Garteam]

Mario Strikers is the best Mario spin-off and you cannot convince me otherwise.

 

[Þe 1 → Way]

Would you all like to hear a tinfoil hat theory based entirely around circumstantial evidence and pure nonessnse that is heavily clouded by my bias? No? Too bad!

Alright, most people seem to agree Capcom is likely to get a CP this pass, and our options are abundant. The character my theory is based around is the titular Ace Attorney himself, Phoenix Wright.

Phoenix specifically may be up for the CP due to a variety of reasons, the big one being the massive amount of plans set by Capcom for 2021.

Enter, The Partner Showcases. These little bad boys have become extremely popular as of late, with Nintendo using them quite a lot.

Due to the fact none of these massive Ace
Attorney plans have been announced despite seemingly being set for this year, and the fact Ace Attorney has always been on a Nintendo console; its not hard to imagine a world in which a partner showcase gets this Ace Attorney news to reveal to the world. Combine this with the likelyhood of a new Capcom character, and thus a March Capcom Partner showcase revealing the new Ace Attorney games along with Phoenix Wright in Smash is in fact, possible...

Yeah this was basically just me typing my thoughts down without double checking how it looked. Feel free to tear this apart yall.

 

[Dinoman96]

Nintendo just wants their brands to be safe and marketable, especially since they're planning on opening a bunch of theme park areas at Universal and making movies and what not.

It's sad, but it's clear to me the company views the weird/experimental area of the GCN as their edgy teenage years that they've been trying to move away from for some time now.

 

[Curious Villager]

So let me get this straight

Mario can:

• Get his skull crushed by Ridley
• GET VAPORIZED BY GALEEM
• and narrowly avoid Sephiroth’s sword by his overalls

But he can’t be rightfully A N G E R Y?

this is joke

It is quite jarring how Nintendo has been having this stronghold on how the Mario characters are portrayed by various companies post Wii era, while at the same time giving Sakurai free reign to use Mario as a constant punching bag for many character reveal trailers and still keeping Bowser's super saiyan OC form and Godzilla voice...

Oh well, guess that goes to show how high up the man is in terms of notoriety and status to Nintendo that he can do that kind of stuff, which I think Reggie himself stated as such at one point...

 

[SMAASH! Puppy]

Also, Miyamoto's focus when it comes to "new ways to play" has always been on the controllers, mechanics etc. The characters don't matter to him that much, except to serve the roles they have in the story or introduce a gameplay mechanic. He's not alone within Nintendo's hierarchy when it comes to this view of characters either, even if they might of course differ (I wouldn't be surprised if Iwata held a similar if slightly different view for example).

Yeah this is the conclusion I've come to. If there are no more ideas for a character, they get thrown out and are never seen again (though in some instances I wouldn't be surprised if they were thrown out on principal because the characters themselves weren't new).

My gripe with this is that keeping the old characters around and making new ones aren't mutually exclusive things. They really should look at their roster and give their characters at least a minor role every once and a while. It'll make all the difference.

 

[SharkLord]

Alright, I'm gonna list off and name all the theories we've been sticking to just because I can

• Second Chance Theory - FP2 is fully or partially based around character who missed their shot
• Returning Mii Theory - The six third-party Miis from SSB4 (Heihachi, Gil, Lloyd, Chocobo, Geno, and Monster Hunter) will all return. Of these costumes, Heihachi, Gil, Chocobo, and Geno have all returned, leaving Lloyd and Monster Hunter to break the pattern.
• Amiibo Theory - New fighters will release around the release of the latest amiibo wave, assuming there is one at the moment.

I just woke up and I need to reactivate my brain cells, so please feel free to give me other theories or elaborate on the ones we have. I'm sure there's more than just these two.

 

[Þe 1 → Way]

Alright, I'm gonna list off and name all the theories we've been sticking to just because I can

• Second Chance Theory - FP2 is fully or partially based around character who missed their shot
• Returning Mii Theory - The six third-party Miis from SSB4 (Heihachi, Gil, Lloyd, Chocobo, Geno, and Monster Hunter) will all return. Of these costumes, Heihachi, Gil, Chocobo, and Geno have all returned, leaving Lloyd and Monster Hunter to break the pattern.

I just woke up and I need to reactivate my brain cells, so please feel free to give me other theories or elaborate on the ones we have. I'm sure there's more than just these two.

Hasn’t Amiibo theory gone quite far as well?

 

[SharkLord]

Hasn’t Amiibo theory gone quite far as well?

bruh how do i not remember this %$#@
Added

 

[Þe 1 → Way]

What character archetypes would you want and not want?
I’m kinda done with Range Demons, Sephiroth is just right for me and I despise Min Min.
I could go for another projectile zoner, we don’t have any of those for DLC (I don’t think).

 

[Faso115]

So there's the supposed showcase that saw the playlist updated. Well it was obvious we wouldn't see a general direct yet and expecting anything smash related now is quite silly.

 

[Technomage]

What character archetypes would you want and not want?
I’m kinda done with Range Demons, Sephiroth is just right for me and I despise Min Min.
I could go for another zoner, we don’t have too many of those.

Well, I don't want anymore Marth or Link archtypes.

I don't really care for any sword archtypes, but I would like a vibroblade-user. We got all other kinds of mechanical melee weapons (buzzsaws, chainsaws, drills, rocket hammers, and lightsabers); now all that's missing are vibroblades (yeah, I know that Gray Fox uses a vibroblade, but he's not playable).