-In a similar regard to Square with FFVII branching away from Nintendo, Rare was sold to Microsoft, who at the time was relatively new to the gaming industry, at least compared to Nintendo...as a result Rare games had been completely exclusive to Microsoft, which is unfortunate given the history they've had with Nintendo at the time...This was also some pretty bad timing for the bear and the bird since Sakurai was considering them for melee's Smash roster...If Banjo was to make it into Smash now that means Nintendo has renewed relations with one of it's biggest third party supporters from back in the day...and now more than ever Nintendo NEEDS third party support...
-Microsoft and Nintendo aren't quite competing as much as we thought...even know before Banjo's possible inclusion, Minecraft (a Microsoft owned IP) is getting a Wii U port, even with Microsoft themselves announcing it on Twitter...Heck people keep wanting to ignore the fact that Phil Spencer is all for Banjo being in smash, cynical detractors like to point out that 'Sure who wouldn't want their character in Smash?' and then move on without batting an eye...'Both sides have to want it' were the words of Sakurai when referring to third-party characters in Smash as this was one of the requirements, Phil Spencer has 'given his blessing' and Sakurai has shown interest in the pair in the past and I'm sure he's aware of how much the fans want him...Cloud was deemed an impossible pick despite the fact that he wasn't even owned by Sony...but when it comes to Banjo & Kazooie that's just one more wall-broken since their rights belong to a direct 'competitor'...at least in the eyes of the fans...
-Rare as I've mentioned earlier was one of Nintendo's biggest third party supporters, especially back in the N64 era...They've even worked on Nintendo's own DKC and have developed other memorable titles for the N64 including Goldeneye, Conker's Bad Fur Day, and of course Banjo & Kazooie; and has even developed some games for the Gamecube before being sold to MS...Rare is a company that was a substantial part of the N64's life cycle producing great titles to go along side Nintendo's own IP's (like I mentioned Rare had even worked on some of these)...Banjo & Kazooie to an extent are Rare's mascots...as a result (I normally don't like to use this word) they 'represent' the N64's Golden era for Nintendo...(One thing to remember when it comes to the N64, it is the birthplace of Smash, where the series started)...Are they iconic? In gaming as a whole, not really. Rare and specifically Banjo & Kazooie haven't really made that big of a dent in gaming history as a whole...but when it comes to Nintendo's history specifically you can't really skip over the games that came to the N64, specifically those made by Rare...This wasn't even including the games the company developed on the SNES either...
-Finally it is a nod to old-school gamers, all those who have played the N64 back in the day remember these games, These characters don't have to be recognized by a bunch of casuals to still be considered iconic...as is the case with a lot of characters in Smash...heck, relevance be damned because this guy sure wasn't that relevant when he made it...
There's a reason I brought him up because if you look closely at this fighter and how they function; the whole tag-team mechanic between some kond of mammal and some kind of bird, several attacks that could literally be mirrored from the duo, to even having a conspicuously similar palette swap to the bird and the bear...kinda like how
takes several cues from
(I still smh when people say Cloud stole Ike's Final Smash), see what I'm getting at here?...Banjo & Kazooie is viewed by some as the character that should've been in the game from the beginning, they were a popular choice in melee amoung Smash fans and now thanks to the Ballot
(and Phil's tweet) they are a popular choice once again...this is a prime opportunity for this pair who has a place in this game afterall it's just a matter of commitment at this point...
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TL;DR
-Nintendo needs third party support and rekindling an old partnership is one of the best ways to do it
-Proves Microsoft vs. Nintendo is nothing but ******** and helps build stronger ties between two otherwise 'rival' companies, almost liek a peace offering in a way...
-'Represents' the N64 era in Nintendo's History...no other character in smash debuted on the N64 (save Sheik, who is technically Zelda, so...)
-brings a character into the game that both Sakurai and the fans have wanted in the past and clearly still do