Do you think Ultimate will get a Microsoft rep?

[Crainy]

With Mario, Sonic, Megaman, Pacman, Cloud and Snake, Smash Ultimate seems to cover most of gamings most iconic characters pretty well. However, I feel like theres one big character missing to complete this list: Master Chief. He´s arguably the only character of modern gaming that has come close to beeing as iconic and popular as Mario and Sonic.

What do you think? Does he, or any Microsoft rep for that matter, stand a chance? I feel like with the title beeing "Ultimate", I feel like its something that Nintendo might want to try.

 

[8-peacock-8]

As much as I’d like a certain bear and bird, I don’t think any Microsoft character will happen. But I wouldn’t mind being wrong.

 

[Llort A. Ton]

I think were gonna see at least 1 MS character during this games lifespan. I see BK as the most likely, sicne they have the most fan demand.

If they somehow make it into the base gsme, id say Chief would be very likely, considering we got Ryu DLC after MegaMan in the base game of Smash 4. There would also be enough time for fans to realize that MS is involved with Smash, and therefore start asking for Chief early on so Skaurai and the dev team are well awar eof his demand.

If no MS character makes it in the base game, I think we will get Banjo DLC and thats it.

 

[Cap'n Jack]

Banjo is the fan demand and Steve could be the industry all-star. I am less warm to Master Chief as he has zero Nintendo history, much like I am not a big fan of Cloud in Smash. But if Chief got in AFTER Banjo, I would not riot.

 

[Blue7113]

I see Banjo and Kazooie happening if Verge is right about Minecraft content. If they make it to the base roster, I could see Steve or Master Chief being DLC. If they don’t make it, they’ll most likely be DLC and that’s it.

 

[ToastyMann]

I think it's possible. Seeing how Microsoft and Nintendo have been on good terms lately and Microsoft porting their Xbox exclusives to PC desperately shows that they want their IP's on several platforms. Maybe we can see a certain Bear and Bird come to Smash Ultimate...

 

[Mona Pizza]

I'd like to think that if Sakurai has approached Microsoft and is going through the legal channels necessary to secure a character, that it'll be Banjo and Kazooie because the fan demand for them is so high and has been for years. Assuming that Banjo makes it onto the base roster and should there be DLC in the future, then perhaps Steve.

 

[Deleted member]

Phil Spencer from Microsoft has given the OK for Banjo to be in Smash. There could be some outside meddling or intervention to prevent Banjo since he is a Microsoft character.
Minecraft representation wouldn't surprise me since it's on every system now, but I am doubtful on seeing a playable Steve.
I am doubtful that we will see any sort of Microsoft character on the roster, as that would feel like another barrier is broken. But... we'll have to wait and see.

 

[ThoughtfulWanderer]

Nearly 50/50 on it, but leaning towards yes, with certainty that it'd be Banjo & Kazooie. I'm very confident that Sakurai at least attempted to negotiate with Microsoft after seeing B&K's popularity and a surge in vocal support once Phil Spencer gave his blessing. The recent friendliness between them to the point of including skins of Microsoft IPs in Minecraft Switch has me hopeful since it shows willingness to work with each other.

Licensing is a tricky step, though. No matter what Spencer, Sakurai, or fans may want, higher-ups at Microsoft could've wanted returns for use of their IP that were stronger than Nintendo was willing to give. Maybe Nintendo higher-ups weren't comfortable with including what is a competitor's brand in an IP that is strictly their own, unlike Minecraft. I'd like to believe we're past that point, though.

Maybe it won't happen, or maybe it won't happen until DLC, but if Verge is right about there being Minecraft content, it could actually be right around the corner.

 

[ChunkySlugger72]

It's gotta be Banjo-Kazooie, the timing couldn't be more perfect.

-It's Banjo Kazooie's 20th Anniversary and Smash is also about to celebrate their 20th too, Ironically both series got their start on the N64 at almost the same time period too.

- Phil Spencer (Head of Microsoft's Xbox Division) has stated several times that he would love for the duo to be in Smash Bros and would not have a problem with it.

- Nintendo and Microsoft have been collaborating with Crossplay and even promoting it.

- N64 Classic Edition looks to be the next one in line to be announced sometime fairly soon, Some view the hold up for it's release is that Nintendo and Microsoft could be working a deal to get some Rareware games on it.

-Even after the Microsoft Buyout, Rare still made titles for the GBA and DS such as DKC Trilogy, Grunty's Revenge, Banjo-Pilot, DKR DS, even Viva Piñata a franchise that debuted Xbox 360 made it's way on there too.

It takes 2 to tango and Microsoft has no problem with it, It's up to Sakurai and Nintendo to play ball, So they got a 50/50 shot. 3rd Party guest characters are not that much of a surprise now, take it to the next level and get a rival's 1st Party Character who used to be a Nintendo All-Star and save them for a final reveal, It would be a completely out of left field, thought to be impossible newcomer and close the roster out with a bang.

 

[Sabrewulf238]

I think it's reasonably likely if Vergeben is to be believed about the Minecraft content being in Smash. If it wasn't for Vergeben I don't think I'd feel nearly as confident. Though I suppose there is also the fact that Microsoft has become chummy with Nintendo recently. Maybe that in part came about because Sakurai reached out to them?

Though I'd agree with what others have said that it'll likely be Banjo & Kazooie if it's anyone.

Arguably every newcomer we've received so far is likely due to fan demand (even Inklings to an extent even though I imagine they would have gotten in regardless of how well they did on the ballot) and I don't get the sense that that's about to stop going forward. (aside from maybe a Pokemon newcomer) In which case it would be odd to see Master Chief being the chosen representative from Microsoft, considering they actually own a character who was once a beloved Nintendo character. There's your "fan demand".

 

[Smashoperatingbuddy123]

There's no other choice than banjo and kazooie

I would say Steve but sakurai know how much banjo is wanted from the ballot

 

[Crainy]

Yeah I could see Banjo-Kazooie beeing the MS character instead of Master Chief, or both. Given that every character announced so far has been heavily demanded, Banjo-Kazooie doesnt seem that unlikely. I just dont think that MS would be fine with beeing represented just by that duo, as they are irrelevant to the Microsoft of today.

 

[zferolie]

If we get a MS characters, its most likely going to be Banjo and Kazooie. They are the only one with a Nintendo history(CLoud so far is the only one that doesn't, but he is the face of FF), B+K have been highly requested, and Phil has said he would be fine letting them in smash. Plus Nintendo and MS seem to be very buddy buddy the last few years. I don't think they see each others as rivals, since Nintendo doesn't try to compete with MS, more so offer its own thing to be bought along with either a PS4 or XB1.

I don't think we'll get a Minecraft character, but a stage seems likely. B+K come with a Minecraft stage would be cool

 

[CaptainAmerica]

If Smash gets anyone from Microsoft, it'll be B-K or maybe Steve.

BK has loads of history and I assume did incredibly well on the ballot. BK's also been dead for ten years now, so it's not like Microsoft is using them for anything, so they'd be perfectly willing to pass them on for this game.

Steve is from one of the biggest games in history, but would be a lot more awkward to put in (and a lot more divisive). Would make a great stage though.

The other name thrown around a lot is Master Chief, but that's one of Microsoft's few (only) exclusive series now - I can't really see him being considered. Sakurai did jump through hoops trying to make Cloud important to Nintendo ("He's the most famous character from Final Fantasy, and we had FF on Nintendo back in the day"), but no argument like that can be made for HALO. Not to mention significant thematic overlap with Samus.

 

[Deleted member]

As I've mentioned before, there's the possibility that Microsoft may offer a few fighters in Smash Bros., not just Banjo & Kazooie. Considering the overall shift in the gaming environment where Nintendo is just Nintendo and the real battle is between Sony and Microsoft, the fact that Sony has become more antagonistic to cross-port play (among other things) may make Microsoft/Nintendo have some sort of informal alliance, and if Ultimate is going to be the End All, Be All Smash Bros., why the hell not?

More likely than not, if we get a Microsoft pack, it would have to be DLC due to the potential content choices because there would be more profit in having them be their own highlighted pack rather than on the base game. Yeah, Microsoft doesn't have nearly as deep of a character library as Sony, and even then, the obvious choices would be slim (Master Chief, Steve, Killer Instinct fighters), but I could logically see Iron Galaxy building up these characters to port to Smash Bros.

 

[Tetiro]

At the end of the day it is all down to Sakurai. Look we've been there before.

-We thought Sonic would never get in. We got Sonic for 3 games now. And Bayonetta now!
-There was no way Konami would allow Snake in. We got him in Brawl and back in Ultimate. Then Simon and Bomberman as an Assist!
-Cloud used to be a "lol no chance". Now he is a legit fighter (no hacks or daydreams)
-Mega Man was considered likely. He is now. Plus Ryu and a Rathalos
-Pac-Man...actually that one was plausible considering Namco has a part in Smash
-Shovel Knight is an actual AT!

Either way, one thing is clear. If Sakurai wants it, Sakurai GETS it. Nintendo will not likely hold him back when it comes to Smash Bros and him. It's one of their biggest franchises now.

So basically, if Sakurai wants Banjo-Kazooie or Minecraft he's getting it.

 

[MacDaddyNook]

I'd say chances aren't bad for it. The two companies have teamed up to promote both Minecraft and the ability to play certain games together on their respective consoles to the extent that an XBox is shown, in a positive light, on a recent Nintendo ad. On social media, the two companies were acting buddy-buddy a month or two back, so it looks like the relationship between them isn't as antagonistic as with Sony.

As mentioned before, Phil Spencer had supported the idea of including Banjo in Smash 4, which while didn't come to fruition, does show that someone up on Microsoft's ladder is open to the idea of sharing their characters. In addition, in Minecraft, skins of several MS characters such as Banjo, Master Chief, Joanna Dark and Marcus Fenix are all available to play as on the Switch version, again showing the company is fine with their IPs making some form of appearance on Nintendo's console.

Then you have fan demand, which has been wishing for Banjo to show up in Smash since Melee. I believe the ballot support for the character is rather high and most certainly on Sakurai's radar. In addition, Minecraft is one of the largest games of recent times and certainly would appeal to the newer generation of gamers, so I would imagine that it would be well recieved if included in Smash as well.

At the end of the day, Sakurai gets the final call and it'll be up to him to determine which characters make the final cut. He has pulled several hefty strings to get even less-likely characters like Cloud, or Snake in Brawl, in, so if he desires, he'll have no trouble working his magic with any company he contacts.

 

[timrtabor123]

I think its a decent possibility. A lot of people seem to think that another console owner would never be allowed but you gotta remember Nintendo and Microsoft view themselves as being fundamentally different parts of the market. Microsoft likes to position the XBox as a teen and adult oriented set top box with a Windows based OS that can also play video games. Nintendo console are primarily family focused game consoles first and foremost. Not a lot of demographic crossover or potential lost marketshare from not competing. Especially now that Microsoft dropped Kinect.

 

[ToastyMann]

Did Phil really say that? Interesting. Oh, and Minecraft in Smash is a terrible idea in my opinion.

 

[Cetus]

If there's gonna be Microsoft in Smash, it's going to be Banjo Kazooie, hands down.

 

[ChunkySlugger72]

Did Phil really say that? Interesting. Oh, and Minecraft in Smash is a terrible idea in my opinion.

I hate Minecraft too and wouldn't want it near Smash ,but if it can be used as a bridge to bring Banjo-Kazooie to Ultimate then I guess that's all that really matters in the end.

 

[Miifighters4Smash5]

If Microsoft WERE to get Representation; at all; There's Only One Obvious choice:

And NO, it's Neither Lucky the Fox, NOR Ori from Ori & The Blind Forest and Its Sequel Ori & the Will of the Wisps;

It's Banjo & Kazooie, Who USED to belong to the Big N before being Bought out by Microsoft!!!

And Since The Head guy at Microsoft said that he'd be all for it, I see no reason for Microsoft to not at least Allow The Bird & Bear to Reunite with their Former Colleagues, aka Mario, Link, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, etc, even just once!!

 

[Diem]

I just had an idea.

If Banjo and Kazooie aren't in the base game, they'd likely be DLC, especially if there's a Minecraft Assist Trophy or something.

So, they announce Banjo for DLC next year. But what if, since it's post-launch and there's more free time and resources, Nintendo and Microsoft decide to double-dip to make it truly special.

The Direct comes out, and they announce Banjo Kazooie, like we're all expecting.

But then the Direct isn't over, and we get one more announcement for another Microsoft character.

And it's Master Chief.

Could happen, but still a long shot. I'd imagine it would happen because, in the discussion between Nintendo/Sakurai and Microsoft about using one of their IP's, Microsoft might offer/Nintendo might ask for Master Chief, given that he's the Xbox mascot (not as blatant as, say, Mario or Sonic, but he's the iconic character and there's a chibi Master Chief hidden inside the Xbox One S and Xbox One X). So if they were to partner with Microsoft in any capacity, might as well get their biggest character in addition to the one with more ties to Nintendo.

Technically, Halo and Master Chief have been on a Nintendo console. There's the Halo Mash-Up Pack for Minecraft on Switch that has Master Chief and other Halo characters and content. So it wouldn't be entirely out of the blue.

 

[ChunkySlugger72]

I just had an idea.

If Banjo and Kazooie aren't in the base game, they'd likely be DLC, especially if there's a Minecraft Assist Trophy or something.

So, they announce Banjo for DLC next year. But what if, since it's post-launch and there's more free time and resources, Nintendo and Microsoft decide to double-dip to make it truly special.

The Direct comes out, and they announce Banjo Kazooie, like we're all expecting.

But then the Direct isn't over, and we get one more announcement for another Microsoft character.

And it's Master Chief.

Could happen, but still a long shot. I'd imagine it would happen because, in the discussion between Nintendo/Sakurai and Microsoft about using one of their IP's, Microsoft might offer/Nintendo might ask for Master Chief, given that he's the Xbox mascot (not as blatant as, say, Mario or Sonic, but he's the iconic character and there's a chibi Master Chief hidden inside the Xbox One S and Xbox One X). So if they were to partner with Microsoft in any capacity, might as well get their biggest character in addition to the one with more ties to Nintendo.

Technically, Halo and Master Chief have been on a Nintendo console. There's the Halo Mash-Up Pack for Minecraft on Switch that has Master Chief and other Halo characters and content. So it wouldn't be entirely out of the blue.

It's not a bad idea, though I don't like the idea of Master Chief stealing Banjo Kazooie 's thunder if they get revealed in the same direct, though I am a little iffy of him joining Smash because of how he will fit, but I personally sure as hell will take take Halo representation over Minecraft anyday.

 

[ProjectDream]

I've already made my case why I think its certainly possible in the Banjo-Kazooie thread, and obviously by sheer popularity among fans over the past few years, and before even the ballot there'd be simply no other choice than Banjo-Kazooie to come from Microsoft and they're well aware of that demand.

Any clauses in such a deal would be 'throw in a Minecraft Assist Trophy or Mii Costume of Steve and we're good', wouldn't be something on the level of taking the time to make 2 whole unique characters. Alot of third parties involved in Smash do this, they get their fighter in and throw in something completely different from another franchise for the AT.

I think people draw way too much of a hard line between Nintendo & Microsoft that such a deal seems impossible to them, but they really aren't as competitive anymore as some are led to believe and there's already a decade long history of them licensing IPs to Nintendo, I don't see how Smash is much different. Sure its an unprecedented move in gaming as a whole, and for Smash, but Smash has been breaking these 'rules' since Brawl after Snake was revealed, and its been escalating and escalating to the point where theres nowhere else to go but to cross that line between one massive gaming production company to another.