Geno (♥♪!?): Return of the Starsend Savior

[Theanimator10]

I'm wondering if Tansut has heard of another Square character potentially being in this pass.

 

[StrawHatX]

I'm wondering if Tansut has heard of another Square character potentially being in this pass.

I think he was quoted like yesterday or the day before as not hearing anything about Sora or Geno.

I think Geno will be a fighter that’s not included in the pass.

 

[GenoFlash]

I'm wondering if Tansut has heard of another Square character potentially being in this pass.

He said on ResetERA that he hasn't, and personally isn't hedging his bets on a new Square character because of that (specifically citing Geno and Sora).

 

[Theanimator10]

Interesting. I feel as though Geno will be one of the last to join Ultimate before the game is completely done adding characters. I couldn't see Square adding more than one character in a season pass anyway. Besides, Sakurai will want to end on a bang, so I predict Geno will be one of, if not the very last character to be added to the game. So I'm thinking we get 1 or 2 more similar season passes.

 

[MissingGlitch]

The thing is I would imagine Hero and Geno being negotiated for at the same time. So Tansuit would have known about that (because I highly doubt they would make Hero the open secret but keep Geno under lock and key). There is a chance they negotiated for Geno when they got Cloud and they decided to not work on him just yet.

 

[GenoFlash]

For me at least one of the things keeping the hope alive is that Sakurai got the rights to Geno for Ultimate and... put a jpeg of him in. No costume yet is one thing (and can return with Hero) but if you're not going to make Geno playable why not make him an AT?

 

[EricTheGamerman]

Spoiler

I know; I just can't help but think that that's how they see it anyway given how horrifyingly irrational everybody seems to be about everything these days. It was the only reason I could think of that made even a lick of sense despite how irrational it seems.

The only other one I can think of off of the top of my head is that Geno isn't as popular as we're all assuming he is and that Nintendo and Square feel Cloud and The Hero are more deserving of the spot. Which again doesn't make sense given how much people screamed for Geno in the Brawl days and how he still polls well even nowadays, but Nintendo and Square might have marketing information we don't -- if Geno doesn't make DLC, this could quite possibly be the reason. If Geno doesn't make it in we're definitely going to have to question our most basic assumptions and ask ourselves if perhaps the talking points that his haters have used so steadfastly actually did have merit after all.

Maybe Square would have just wanted Cloud and The Hero in and didn't want Nintendo to choose Geno for one of their spots. Maybe they would have just wanted Nintendo to only include their most marketable characters on the roster.

I'm pretty sure Geno's probably gonna net the last DLC spot though. If he doesn't, then we can ask these questions in earnest. I'm just speculating, is all.

I mean, we've been over it many times, but there's a legitimate argument as to why Cloud and The Hero are more "deserving" than Geno. I mean, those two franchises are literally what put Squaresoft and Enix on the map as major developers and are their most important series historically and commercially (though I know Kingdom Hearts and Tomb Raider probably have made more recent runs for that position). You choose them for a variety of reasons that you wouldn't choose Geno for. They are more deserving under one set of criteria, while Geno is more deserving under another, particularly in the form of satisfying fan demand. They've only ever been competing in the sense that people have generally assumed we will only get one Square Enix character in the Fighter's Pass (and was the case for Smash 4 DLC though Geno's popularity at that time was in a real rough place and he was nowhere near as discussed as in Brawl's era from what I've been told of that time, and certainly not like what we've done with Ultimate). That may be a valid stance, but I think that's why a lot of people are looking towards additional possibilities these days beyond the Fighter's Pass.

I think it's important to challenge basic assumptions and consider why Geno and our fanbase get so much flack from other parts of the community to assess our own chances and move forward with changing the community's perception of us for the better. Though, I'd generally attribute most of the hate we receive to just being an easy target due to the inherent circumstances of such a vocal fan base existing for such a specific and otherwise "less relevant than even Banjo Kazooie" type character. We've always had to face the harshest comments from trolls because of that, and also some people at the end of the day just don't understand Geno as a character choice even among people who are serious about Smash discussions. The issue I brought up for months prior was the priority situation of Geno, but I think with The Hero and Cloud in the game, there's much less serious competition (which is also in part due to the fact that for some reason Kingdom Hearts in Smash seems increasingly unlikely, though I can't play why that's the case exactly and need more time to collect my thoughts). At the end of the day though, we're a niche like all other Smash fan bases. Just one that happens to be quite vocal and polls pretty well.

I think Isaac is also a continually interesting frame of reference too since he got a Mii costume and his Assist Trophy returning in Ultimate presumably due to the large fan demand surrounding his character (It's the only explanation I can think of really since he's the only Assist Trophy besides Grey Fox to miss a game and return in a later one, and Grey Fox just naturally came back with the Metal Gear franchise's return). He got his recognition in Ultimate finally, but we got ours a while back during Smash 4's DLC and in that interview, Sakurai specifically acknowledged fan demand for Geno and the reason for the Mii costume's existence. Not even King K. Rool got that acknowledgement at the time (though he would later be cited as a character developed due to the Fighter Ballot). King K. Rool and Banjo Kazooie both managed to secure places as playable fighters in Smash thanks to the ballot from what we've seen (I guess Banjo Kazooie hasn't been confirmed in that regard, but there's no way that wasn't a massive, if not the primary, influence for their inclusion). Isaac did not, but one thing to consider is that he doesn't have as much popularity in Japan as the others do, and that includes Geno. King K. Rool and Banjo Kazooie seem to have been very popular in Japan prior to their inclusions, so perhaps the Japanese popularity for the fan base plays a larger role in regards to choosing which fan favorites get in as well. Naturally Ridley and Simon Belmont call more of that into question as they were more Western choices, but I still find it fascinating to see Isaac miss being playable, yet still get so much support. If I had to guess, I'd wager that Geno has to fall somewhere between Isaac and our new favorite Rare bros. Whether or not that is enough to make him playable or not is anyone's guess, but it's an interesting concept to consider while entertaining our extremely limited polling data on the situation. Though, again, our willingness and perhaps even need to vocalize as Geno fans must always be considered as something that potentially plays a heavier role in our polls than the entire Smash ballot.

Overall though, look at the potentially constructive criticism we receive and consider the possibilities of certain assumptions being not entirely correct for certain, but also don't get too bogged down in them. The more we can ascertain about the realities of Geno's popularity in the community, the better we can prepare for future support.

Regarding the "Geno is a good fit because the gun hand" thing, I think the biggest barrier to his entry isn't Mega Man, it's the Mii Gunner. Sakurai may view putting the Geno costume onto a Mii as sufficient representation of Geno's likeness and an acceptable moveset. You've got a Geno costume to play with and you can even make your Mii look a lot like him thanks to his more basic round design, bada bing bada boom.

Which I don't necessarily agree with, Smash Legacy gave him a cool moveset and I've already written about how Geno could be the ultimate expression of playing with an action figure in Smash, but I understand the logic.

I sincerely doubt Sakurai would find Geno lacking in moveset in comparison to the Mii gunner. I don't think he particularly cares about how similar characters are in Smash and he's clearly had an idea for Geno as a playable character in the past. He's much more concerned about his ability to faithfully recreate and represent the home game of the character and the character's unique qualities in Smash than anything else. He stated Heihachi didn't make the cut because of concerns in adapting Tekken to Smash, and while Street Fighter in Smash came well after those considerations of Heihachi in Smash, I don't think Sakurai would just shy away because he already has a fighter that resembles another one.. If he's creative enough to pull this 80 character roster into existence, he's certainly creative enough to come up with a unique and varied move set from Geno that represent him and Super Mario RPG appropriately. While he does state the Mii costume is an approximation of Geno as playable in Smash, I do get the sense from that interview that's a compromise for the moment and made to provide the fans with something regarding Geno while he has Square Enix on the line.

 

[GoeGoe]

You know I'm one of the strongest Goemon supporters out there too, but it isn't cool to tell people to ditch their character just so they can follow your own

I'm stronger than you XD jk
No, If you've read my replies you'll know that's not what I was asking, it sounded like it though. More like along with it.
In a sense though, (I think it was the composer) just cleared that Banjo was asked more than a year ago by Nintendo. Means despite them saying they haven't started on any DLC character is not true. What I'm saying is if Geno is considered, then he is, at least a year ago. and I'm still at my guess, the last DLC to be announced.

 

[Deleted member]

I seriously hope Geno is a bonus character seperate from the Fighter Pass to end of this game's DLC cycle. It would definitely help me cope with Crash being absent, though I just need at least one of my most wants in this game and I will be satisfied. Like tons of people in this thread, I see Banjo getting in as a good thing for Geno, as Banjo is evidence of Nintendo listening to the fans and I hope they see this and they can get Geno into the game.

I feel like it actually will happen for Ultimate. Though, of course, I'll always expect the worst.

 

[kiteinthesky]

I mean, we've been over it many times, but there's a legitimate argument as to why Cloud and The Hero are more "deserving" than Geno. I mean, those two franchises are literally what put Squaresoft and Enix on the map as major developers and are their most important series historically and commercially (though I know Kingdom Hearts and Tomb Raider probably have made more recent runs for that position). You choose them for a variety of reasons that you wouldn't choose Geno for. They are more deserving under one set of criteria, while Geno is more deserving under another, particularly in the form of satisfying fan demand.

Which is why I wonder at the whole situation. Obviously from what we've seen so far, fan favorites are taking priority, that's literally the reason why Banjo and K. Rool made the roster, and people were giving the Banjobros that stupid "mUh ReLeVaNcY" **** too.

That's why I genuinely believe that either Geno will make the last DLC spot or there's something we either don't know or didn't consider at play. It doesn't seem very plausible for Sakurai to turn around and decide that Geno's not good enough for a roster spot after stating in interviews that he specifically wanted him on the roster, so my guess would be that office politics vis-a-vis Cloud and The Hero's marketing purposes will probably have been that factor if Geno doesn't make the cut.

Though I guess we'll see come August or September. Does anybody know the next time Nintendo's doing a direct?

 

[Vector Victor]

I can see Square being the limiting factor concerning Geno. However, if DQ becomes more popular thanks to Smash, Square should not only praise Sakurai for finally ending DQ's drought in the West, they should pay Sakurai to make Geno and Mallow playable characters and give Nintendo the rights.

If Geno's in, I want him either as character 4 or a side DLC before the 5th character. Character 5 will be under a crazy amount of scrutiny from Smash fans.

 

[N3ON]

I didn't know that. I know the mods closed Ridley's support thread sometime after he was deconfirmed as a stage hazard back in Smash 4 if I'm correct?

I don't remember the exact circumstances of it getting locked, but for a while all character threads were closed before we knew about DLC, and Ridley's thread didn't make it back during the grand re-opening that mostly coincided with the ballot era.

Also, I remember looking through the archives on this site and seeing that the guy who ran the Brawl Krystal thread moved the thread and restarted it because the original thread was having some issues. Plus he said the original Brawl Krystal thread at it's height passed 650+ pages, is that true? I think you were on this site when he was still around, so do you know?

To be honest with you, I used a different Smash site in those days that no longer exists (Brawl Central, if anyone else remembers it), so I didn't spend much time on here back then. What I can tell you is the first Krystal thread was closed, another opened, and together they didn't come close to 650 pages.

It's true that Krystal was super popular back then, but keep in mind though that even Geno, who had the biggest thread on here and was at his popularity peak, failed to reach 500 pages. The speculation scene was just different back then.

 

[kiteinthesky]

It's true that Krystal was super popular back then, but keep in mind though that even Geno, who had the biggest thread on here and was at his popularity peak, failed to reach 500 pages. The speculation scene was just different back then.

What happened to all of the Krystal fans, by the by? Are they just waiting for Smash 6?

 

[RetrogamerMax]

What happened to all of the Krystal fans, by the by? Are they just waiting for Smash 6?

Krystal's popularity went down because of her long absence from the Star Fox series. She is still popular, but not like she was in the Brawl days because that was when she was relevant and was still starring in the Star Fox games.

 

[N3ON]

What happened to all of the Krystal fans, by the by? Are they just waiting for Smash 6?

Well you probably would've heard more from them had she made it past E3. But post-Brawl she stopped appearing in Star Fox games, the series itself took a downturn, a lot of the "more females!" crowd moved over to Palutena after Uprising, and then most of the fanbase realized if they couldn't even get Wolf, Krystal seemed even more out of reach.

The thing is, she's still a desired character. Her fanbase is dormant, but should she ever become prominent in her series again, I've no doubt they'll reawaken. Hell, I think she even performed pretty decently on the ballot, which lead to being made an AT.

 

[RetrogamerMax]

Well you probably would've heard more from them had she made it past E3. But post-Brawl she stopped appearing in Star Fox games, the series itself took a downturn, a lot of the "more females!" crowd moved over to Palutena after Uprising, and then most of the fanbase realized if they couldn't even get Wolf, Krystal seemed even more out of reach.

The thing is, she's still a desired character. Her fanbase is dormant, but should she ever become prominent in her series again, I've no doubt they'll reawaken. Hell, I think she even performed pretty decently on the ballot, which lead to being made an AT.

I think despite Krystal not appearing in her series for 13 years already, I think her being made into a Assist is more of a blessing for us Krystal fans than a curse. It's a sign of hope that maybe one day she will get upgraded to playable status.

 

[N3ON]

I think despite Krystal not appearing in her series for 13 years already, I think her being made into a Assist is more of a blessing for us Krystal fans than a curse. It's a sign of hope that maybe one day she will get upgraded to playable status.

Being made an AT is never a curse. People really take it as a slight, as if the options were playable or assist instead of assist or nothing. But with most of the characters in question, it's just a way to give them some sort of active role, short of being a character. It's not like they have to have that role forever.

Krystal isn't Kursed. Though her series is in rough shape.

 

[MasterOfKnees]

I don't remember the exact circumstances of it getting locked, but for a while all character threads were closed before we knew about DLC, and Ridley's thread didn't make it back during the grand re-opening that mostly coincided with the ballot era.

It remained locked because the whole discussion around Ridley was at an all-time toxic high after his deconfirmation (from both sides too), it was just too much work for the mods to try and keep in check, and all for something that had already run its course. It was so bad that Ridley was even mentioned in the board rules as being a big no-no topic, if you wanted to discuss him you'd need an invite to the Ridley group in the old Groups section of the forum.

On a bit more of a relevant note, I've just started Super Mario RPG after it being on my to-play list for many many years, and I'm looking forward to using Geno in action after hearing so much about him from his supporters over the years. The first time I even heard about SMRPG was thanks to his massive amount of support pre-Brawl (it was never released in EU), so I'm eager to actually get to know the character as something more than this mythical topic of discussion for Smash speculators.

 

[T2by4]

Spoiler

Krystal's popularity went down because of her long absence from the Star Fox series. She is still popular, but not like she was in the Brawl days because that was when she was relevant and was still starring in the Star Fox games.

Yet the genogang still stands strong. This is why I like ya'll. There's been so many fanbases that have grown and fallen and despite ALL the bull**** we've been dealt we still remain optimistic. We're one of the last remaining popular picks along with Isaac who has stayed alive for a relatively long time. We will never give up.

 

[volbound1700]

I have this weird funny feeling about Geno. I don't think he is one of the five Smash Pass characters but I agree with a previous comment someone said that we might get a six character thrown in for free as a surprise at the end for the support. The best option ti fit this bill would be Geno. Sakurai knows the demand and I doubt Square-Enix really sees any value to the character. (Honestly Square should just sell the IP back to Nintendo).

 

[Firox]

Definitely something that would surround Geno and his past, as well as whatever else would come with expanding his personality. Tying the return of Smithy and/or something with Culex and Vanda would be awesome, too.

Plot points - Mallow has the Geno Doll after the events of the first SMRPG. Could be as a reminder of an old friend.
- Geno is among the stars. A new threat comes to the Mushroom Kingdom. Geno knows what the threat is, but is trapped. Not able to return to his doll form.
- New Threat could be Smithy or the Entity that MADE Smithy.

These are some great ideas. I'm thinking that Culex is a good place to start. He could be the vanguard of a new enemy that was the original creator of Smithy. Smithy was one of many super weapons that this new enemy had sent across multiple dimensions, one of which being Mario's world. Culex reports back to his master about the incredible power of Mario and his friends. This, coupled with Smithy's defeat, causes this new enemy to shift their full attention to the unwitting mushroom kingdom.

Meanwhile, Mallow is running Nimbus land as the new prince. He's kept the Geno doll with him all this time as a precious memento of his old friend and the adventures they once shared. Unbeknownst to him, star road has become the first target of the dark forces as they try to cut off any potential aid the star warriors could offer the mushroom kingdom. With star road in shambles and Geno's spirit the last of its inhabitants, barely clinging to life, he manages to establish a faint connection to the doll. Only his voice is able to reach Mallow, offering a brief and ominous warning....

Ok so this would just be an outline of the prologue. I'd still have to flesh everything out and I need to read more of Geno's dialogue from the original game to get a better feel of his character and personality. I want to be sure to do him justice. Hope this sounds good to you guys.

Anywho, I also found a fellow supporter of Geno online that posted this absolutely hilarious video about Smash bros' history. I swear, I couldn't stop laughing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3ls2y_2UHM

 

[T2by4]

These are some great ideas. I'm thinking that Culex is a good place to start. He could be the vanguard of a new enemy that was the original creator of Smithy. Smithy was one of many super weapons that this new enemy had sent across multiple dimensions, one of which being Mario's world. Culex reports back to his master about the incredible power of Mario and his friends. This, coupled with Smithy's defeat, causes this new enemy to shift their full attention to the unwitting mushroom kingdom.

Meanwhile, Mallow is running Nimbus land as the new prince. He's kept the Geno doll with him all this time as a precious memento of his old friend and the adventures they once shared. Unbeknownst to him, star road has become the first target of the dark forces as they try to cut off any potential aid the star warriors could offer the mushroom kingdom. With star road in shambles and Geno's spirit the last of its inhabitants, barely clinging to life, he manages to establish a faint connection to the doll. Only his voice is able to reach Mallow, offering a brief and ominous warning....

Ok so this would just be an outline of the prologue. I'd still have to flesh everything out and I need to read more of Geno's dialogue from the original game to get a better feel of his character and personality. I want to be sure to do him justice. Hope this sounds good to you guys.

Anywho, I also found a fellow supporter of Geno online that posted this absolutely hilarious video about Smash bros' history. I swear, I couldn't stop laughing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3ls2y_2UHM

TerminalMontage is one of our biggest supporters in getting word out for geno in smash. He's also hidden geno in nearly all of his videos.

 

[ShotoStar 2]

Wow this place isn't very active today I wonder why.. Anyways I'm thinking of making a long post on why I for one am almost confident in Geno being DLC be it in the Fighters Pass or more likely an additional character like Piranha Plant was for Base game I don't have a lot of details planned out yet but with Banjo getting in I'm almost certain there's something we can learn from these past few weeks.

I hope I do well with it unlike my "Erdrick is Leakbait" thing which in a sense it was correct the main character wasn't Erdrick but instead he was an alt nevertheless we did end up getting a DQ rep in as DLC and the way they did it was probably the best way they could do it if it even gets me who was anti-DQ for a long time interested.

Point is I hope it's better than my last one which in hindsight was a big yikes.

 

[Datboigeno]

Today is my 1 year Smashboards anniversary and hence my 1 year anniversary of posting on this thread. Bittersweet because a year later and Geno is still not playable in SSBU but at the same time I feel like my time here has been great because I've met a bunch of people who have passion and love for the character and SMRPG as much as I do (even moreso at times) and if anything I might actually appreciate SMRPG/Geno more just from talking about them so often.

Thanks to you all for making this thread a cool place to discuss Geno and all things Smash-related!

 

[UberPyro64]

Wow this place isn't very active today I wonder why.. Anyways I'm thinking of making a long post on why I for one am almost confident in Geno being DLC be it in the Fighters Pass or more likely an additional character like Piranha Plant was for Base game I don't have a lot of details planned out yet but with Banjo getting in I'm almost certain there's something we can learn from these past few weeks.

I hope I do well with it unlike my "Erdrick is Leakbait" thing which in a sense it was correct the main character wasn't Erdrick but instead he was an alt nevertheless we did end up getting a DQ rep in as DLC and the way they did it was probably the best way they could do it if it even gets me who was anti-DQ for a long time interested.

Point is I hope it's better than my last one which in hindsight was a big yikes.

Then I do I have a picture for you!

https://i.imgtc.ws/UmR3KdU.jpg

Geno is the final guest fighter! And yes, he'll be a bonus fighter!

 

[ShotoStar 2]

Then I do I have a picture for you!

https://i.imgtc.ws/UmR3KdU.jpg

Geno is the final guest fighter! And yes, he'll be a bonus fighter!

Yeah I saw that yesterday it'd definitely be awesome! The final two DLC characters could be from big franchises whom have decently large legacies and then we could get Geno to finish off this wild ride as the final Fan Favorite added, I could see that happening actually and it would totally be incredible!

Imagine by the end of DLC we get: Ridley, K. Rool, Banjo and Geno! That's so much more than anyone would've imagined from when the Inkling trailer happened to now, Absolutely mind-blowing.

 

[Vector Victor]

Wow this place isn't very active today I wonder why.. .

This usually happens to newcomer threads when they turn into social threads after the character is confirmed, like Banjo's.


This comment pulled from the future from this thread located in the 74 - Geno subforum.

 

[Fatmanonice]

Having a time frame on when DLC started would be nice. Had to have been pretty early if Hero was known by last July. I also think it started earlier than we think because of the full blown cutscenes we are getting because high quality, 3D animation takes a lot of time to do. Sakurai probably won't be willing to admit it up front but I feel like the evidence is stacking up that they did indeed take a "finish it later" approach to this game like they did Kirby Star Allies.

 

[RetrogamerMax]

Having a time frame on when DLC started would be nice. Had to have been pretty early if Hero was known by last July. I also think it started earlier than we think because of the full blown cutscenes we are getting because high quality, 3D animation takes a lot of time to do. Sakurai probably won't be willing to admit it up front but I feel like the evidence is stacking up that they did indeed take a "finish it later" approach to this game like they did Kirby Star Allies.

Fatmanonice, how likely do you think Geno's chances are now?

 

[Vector Victor]

Having a time frame on when DLC started would be nice. Had to have been pretty early if Hero was known by last July. I also think it started earlier than we think because of the full blown cutscenes we are getting because high quality, 3D animation takes a lot of time to do. Sakurai probably won't be willing to admit it up front but I feel like the evidence is stacking up that they did indeed take a "finish it later" approach to this game like they did Kirby Star Allies.

If that was the case, thankfully there is so much content that the game never looked unfinished. I think there was something in the Banjo thread about talks with Phil Spencer back in 2015. And of course that Nintendo tweet about Geno or Mallow around then too. I wouldn't be surprised if Geno was planned for base roster, Square wanted him as DLC in exchange for getting Cloud in base and Sakurai just made his spirit from a fighter spirit to normal instead of removing it entirely (which would also require removing Mallow in that case because just having Mallow would look very suspicious). Anyway, just theorizing.

As an aside, I don't mind modes added later in free DLC. Helps extend the life of the game and not make it too unwieldy at the start ('There's too much to do!). In fact, I've intentionally been taking my time in game that I haven't even unlocked all characters.

 

[ShotoStar 2]

Having a time frame on when DLC started would be nice. Had to have been pretty early if Hero was known by last July. I also think it started earlier than we think because of the full blown cutscenes we are getting because high quality, 3D animation takes a lot of time to do. Sakurai probably won't be willing to admit it up front but I feel like the evidence is stacking up that they did indeed take a "finish it later" approach to this game like they did Kirby Star Allies.

Well as this tweet here shows the Project plan was finished around December of 2015 and I doubt making deals with so many companies would be exactly easy or take less than a month with how many companies are now involved with Smash (Namco, Capcom, Sega, Square-Enix, Konami, Microsoft, even companies for 3rd party characters with lesser roles like Yacht club games, Ubisoft, Etc.) so I'd project around 3-6 months depending on how well the companies worked with each other.

Then I'd say it would take 1.5-2 years to make the game itself as while it's mostly new it used Smash 4 as a base for a lot of stuff like some Character Models for example. So one of these would be my guess: December 2015-March 2017, December 2015-June 2017, December 2015-March 2018, December 2015-June 2018.

We can probably scratch those last two off as that was around when the public first saw Smash Ultimate so my final guesses would be; March 2017 or June 2017 maybe give or take a few months that's just what I think.

 

[Ovaltine]

Well as this tweet here shows the Project plan was finished around December of 2015 and I doubt making deals with so many companies would be exactly easy or take less than a month with how many companies are now involved with Smash (Namco, Capcom, Sega, Square-Enix, Konami, Microsoft, even companies for 3rd party characters with lesser roles like Yacht club games, Ubisoft, Etc.) so I'd project around 3-6 months depending on how well the companies worked with each other.

Then I'd say it would take 1.5-2 years to make the game itself as while it's mostly new it used Smash 4 as a base for a lot of stuff like some Character Models for example. So one of these would be my guess: December 2015-March 2017, December 2015-June 2017, December 2015-March 2018, December 2015-June 2018.

We can probably scratch those last two off as that was around when the public first saw Smash Ultimate so my final guesses would be; March 2017 or June 2017 maybe give or take a few months that's just what I think.

Actually, Nintendo came to Sakurai in January 2018 saying that they'll be doing DLC for Ultimate, which was well after the rest of the project plan. He stated this in his Famitsu column.

It's also part of why I'm hard-pressed to believe spirits deconfirm characters, especially third party ones. Surely those deals had already been made and took some time, and they wouldn't undo all of those just to eliminate a PNG in the game until DLC. It would be a tremendous waste of time.

 

[xpnc]

Actually, Nintendo came to Sakurai in January 2018 saying that they'll be doing DLC for Ultimate, which was well after the rest of the project plan. He stated this in his Famitsu column.

It's also part of why I'm hard-pressed to believe spirits deconfirm characters, especially third party ones. Surely those deals had already been made and took some time, and they wouldn't undo all of those just to eliminate a PNG in the game until DLC. It would be a tremendous waste of time.

I find it incredibly hard to believe that they set aside 1300 characters that they were CERTAIN would never be playable, especially considering work for spirits would have to have been long before Nintendo gave Sakurai the DLC list.

 

[ShotoStar 2]

Actually, Nintendo came to Sakurai in January 2018 saying that they'll be doing DLC for Ultimate, which was well after the rest of the project plan. He stated this in his Famitsu column.

It's also part of why I'm hard-pressed to believe spirits deconfirm characters, especially third party ones. Surely those deals had already been made and took some time, and they wouldn't undo all of those just to eliminate a PNG in the game until DLC. It would be a tremendous waste of time.

Well I was at least close! I had no idea Sakurai said that. I still doubt that Spirits deconfirm though I heavily doubt they'd set aside a thousand+ characters and to never use them it's just unlikely in my opinion.

Even if it did deconfirm I could still see Geno being a bonus character to the Fighters Pass.

 

[MattX20]

After E3, it's pretty much an anything goes scenario for the remaining Fighter Pass characters. I really wouldn't know where to begin speculation on those two going forward

 

[xpnc]

Then I do I have a picture for you!

https://i.imgtc.ws/UmR3KdU.jpg

Geno is the final guest fighter! And yes, he'll be a bonus fighter!

You know something we don't? I'd be pretty satisfied with this

 

[Ovaltine]

After E3, it's pretty much an anything goes scenario for the remaining Fighter Pass characters. I really wouldn't know where to begin speculation on those two going forward

It's the wild west from here. The most we can peg down is what might be possible in terms of companies that'll be represented in those last two slots, and that's still a whole mess that can't even be proven. We knew about SE and Microsoft reps for a long time and we started off with Joker, so these last two slots are a complete mystery.

 

[StrawHatX]

I do feel strongly that Geno will show up as a separate bonus fighter when the Pass is over. Nintendo and SE are like best friends now and Sakurai is well aware how long Geno has been wanted. Now is the perfect time. This is Smash Ultimate after all. Get starboi in there.

 

[Ovaltine]

I do feel strongly that Geno will show up as a separate bonus fighter when the Pass is over. Nintendo and SE are like best friends now and Sakurai is well aware how long Geno has been wanted. Now is the perfect time. This is Smash Ultimate after all. Get starboi in there.

I'm personally not expecting it and only expecting the worst, which thankfully is an easier pill to swallow since I got one of my most wanteds, but I do hope something like that happens. That, or individual DLC of some other kind would certainly be his one-way ticket to Smashville.

 

[wynn728]

Actually, Nintendo came to Sakurai in January 2018 saying that they'll be doing DLC for Ultimate, which was well after the rest of the project plan. He stated this in his Famitsu column.

It's also part of why I'm hard-pressed to believe spirits deconfirm characters, especially third party ones. Surely those deals had already been made and took some time, and they wouldn't undo all of those just to eliminate a PNG in the game until DLC. It would be a tremendous waste of time.

Well I would say that if negotiations begain near the beginning of 2018 for DLC they would have known who was going to be the five DLC fighters. They would've turn characters that weren't part of the Fighters Pass as Spirits. It's not that Spirits Deconfirm characters, it's more like these characters were turn into Spirits because they was no plans for them as DLC.

Though I will say they could've turn Geno and Mallow into Spirits to throw people off on speculation or have some content for people in the base game. Seeing how they're willing to have World of Light stuff in newcomer trailers with The Hero reveal they could probably do something where Mario, Peach, and Bowser are fighting shadow version of characters and Geno's spirit regains his form to help out.