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

[RetrogamerMax]

It’s pretty clear that we’ll get three per year, but I disagree with your assertion that we’ll only see one per E3. I think our hype levels will remain for the six months between E3 and the supposed Jan 2021 character reveal, provided the two E3 reveals generate enough hype.

They announce two at E3, and stagger the release two months apart for each character (7 in Aug, 8 in Oct), and i think that will tide us together until 9’s reveal.

Maybe so.

 

[MattX20]

I'm confident we'll get at least 3 of the 6 characters released this year for sure, but it's fairly likely we'll see #4 revealed before the year ends.

 

[Fatmanonice]

The model I presented earlier weirdly works if you take into consideration that Sakurai has said characters typically take 10 months to a year to complete.

-Plant, Joker, Hero and Banjo are all being worked on in December.

-Plant releases super early February. Terry probably began development around this time. Late January/early February to early November would be roughly 10 months.

-Joker releases in April. Blythe potentially begins development around this time. Again, the timeline fits if we assume Blythe started when Joker was wrapping up. Late March/early April to late January/early February is about 10 months.

Let's now go in reverse.

-DLC was supposedly first pitched to Sakurai around March 2018, green lit around E3 2018, and finalized November 2018.

-This model suggests that Joker probably began development around E3 2018, coincidentally about 10 months before his April 2019 release.

-The Seven Squares memo happens sometime in July 2018 and is leaked to the public in August. This suggests that Hero was probably greenlit around this time. Again, it fits the 10 months to a year timeframe. Coincidentally, the big ass Smash Direct happened around this time too.

-Banjo was supposedly negotiated around E3 2018 and Papagenos heard about him in October 2018. We know that Banjo was already in development at this point so when approximately did he begin? Probably September and, once again, likely in a similar timeframe to not only the Fall Direct but Isabelle's reveal too. Fits the theoretical timeframe.

 

[pinshadow]

To add onto this, it weirdly fits if we keep this assumption.

-Pass 2 is green lit around E3 2019. Work actually begins on the Secret Six. Following past precedent, Nintendo works on its own characters then characters from "veteran" companies and then new companies. We even saw this with the Fighter's Pass:

Plant (Nintendo) - Joker (SEGA/Altus) - Hero (Square/Armor Project) - Banjo (RARE/Microsoft)

These four characters were being worked on December 2018. Let's go with the model I presented in my last post and put forward the following theory:

-Hero and Banjo are announced at E3. Season 2 is green lit around E3. 6 began development around this time. Negotiations for at least one other character probably have already happened.

-Hero is released in late July. 7 begins development around this time.

-Banjo is released and Terry is announced in early September. 8 begins development around this time. This sets up a reasonable scenario that 7 and 8 would be E3 2020 announcements.

-Terry is released in early November. 9 begins development.

-Blythe is announced in mid January 2020. 10 will begin development shortly after Blythe comes out. Negotiations for 11 are finished and the pass is finalized.

-11 will probably start development once 6 is actually released, suggesting 11 could be released as early as next summer.

Just something fun to run with.

I think the general idea is that characters were being done 3 at a time though? Atleast in raw development.

• Plant, Joker, and Hero's files all in the game at launch
• Character development cycle seems to be 6-7 months, from when development starts to release, not including conceptualization and planning.
• Plant releases in February, development starts on Banjo, releases 7 months later in Septemnber
• Joker releases in April, Terry releases in November 7 months later
• Hero releases in July, Byleth releases in January, 6 months later

I don't see how they would be doing 4 at a time with this, if they were why wasn't Banjo within the game files at launch?

 

[Vector Victor]

Just reveal playable Geno. I think then many groups, not just this one, can all just move on.

 

[Fatmanonice]

I think the general idea is that characters were being done 3 at a time though? Atleast in raw development.

• Plant, Joker, and Hero's files all in the game at launch
• Character development cycle seems to be 6-7 months, from when development starts to release, not including conceptualization and planning.
• Plant releases in February, development starts on Banjo, releases 7 months later in Septemnber
• Joker releases in April, Terry releases in November 7 months later
• Hero releases in July, Byleth releases in January, 6 months later

I don't see how they would be doing 4 at a time with this, if they were why wasn't Banjo within the game files at launch?

It's going to probably take me a while to find but he talks about it in a tweet last December where he was working on the first three characters of the Fighter's Pass. I guess he could have been referring to Plant instead of Banjo but it's always been hard emphasized that Plant wasn't a part of the pass.

 

[YsDisciple]

-Hero and Banjo are announced at E3. Season 2 is green lit around E3. 6 began development around this time. Negotiations for at least one other character probably have already happened.

Hmm, following this timeline, then Challenger Pack 6 would be released by around April 2020 (similar to how Joker was available mid April). However, I believe we could get the reveal for Challenger Pack 6 as soon as this next Tuesday (January 28) since:

a. The Fighters Pass Vol. 2 will be available for pre-purchase, and
b. As Sakurai stated in Byleth's presentation video when revealing the Fighters Pass Vol. 2, he was very sorry yet again that the Pass would be offered without any of its contents being known. For the first Fighters Pass, this was also the case; however, it wasn't until TGA 2018 (around a month later), that we got the teaser surprise reveal of Challenger Pack 1: Joker; and this was the same day the Fighters Pass also became available for pre-purchase.

Although Fighters Pass Vol. 2 was officially announced recently (January 16); not even a month having passed, it was technically albeit vaguely announced after Terry Bogard's reveal on the September 4th, 2019 Nintendo Direct (almost 4 1/2 months since the official announcement of the Pass).

 

[MamaLuigi123456]

Have there been any new developments this past week

 

[Malo Mart]

Hello again, y'all. Just passing by to give your daily reminder that Cacomallow is real. Aight, see ya.

 

[Franco Geno]

Hello again, y'all. Just passing by to give your daily reminder that Cacomallow is real. Aight, see ya.

View attachment 259803

This is great

 

[Malo Mart]

This is great

Thanks! I'm even tempted to make it into my profile pic lmao.

 

[ActualGarbage]

Hello again, y'all. Just passing by to give your daily reminder that Cacomallow is real. Aight, see ya.

View attachment 259803

"Mom said it's my turn to play on the Switch."

 

[Deleted member]

Off-topic for a second for everything you did for basketball and for your overall just amazing attitude thank you for everything Kobe Bryant rest in peace and know you will never be forgotten.

Back on topic!

Yeah a Direct this week not happening dosen't surprise me.

 

[SSGuy]

I wouldn't expect a direct until at least middle or end of February. But I certainly do expect one of the announcements to be the first character of the next fighter's pass. Also still believing in Nintendo's track record, I think we should be looking at a quarter 1 direct to share plans for 2020.

 

[DarkShadow20]

I just don’t get Nintendo sometimes. How is it a good idea to end FP1 on such an unhype character, then not even reveal the first fighter for FP2 before it becomes available for purchase?

 

[Fatmanonice]

I'm just seeing how this week pans out. We're just in a weird spot right now because expectations for the next Direct are through the roof and the thing that sucks is that, unlike Fighter 5, pretty much everyone is saying "yep, this is totally warranted based on what we know" which makes it even worse because, holy hell, some of these rumors for the next Direct are literally unbelievable and I can't wait to see people's reactions if they wind up being true. If all of these surprises wind up being saved until E3, I'm probably going to have a stroke because I've been holding onto some of this **** since like July/August and it's kind of driving me crazy.

 

[Hydreigonfan01]

Ive seen some people saying that sephiroth might get in over geno to promote the ff7 remake but how the hell does that work if the ff7 remake isnt... You know... Coming to the switch. So theres nothing to really promote

I mean this is the same guy who said "Please play Banjo-Kazooie on the Xbox". That said, I don't think Sephiroth would be in for promotion anyway. We already have Cloud.

 

[Bob-Omber]

I'm just seeing how this week pans out. We're just in a weird spot right now because expectations for the next Direct are through the roof and the thing that sucks is that, unlike Fighter 5, pretty much everyone is saying "yep, this is totally warranted based on what we know" which makes it even worse because, holy hell, some of these rumors for the next Direct are literally unbelievable and I can't wait to see people's reactions if they wind up being true. If all of these surprises wind up being saved until E3, I'm probably going to have a stroke because I've been holding onto some of this **** since like July/August and it's kind of driving me crazy.

If Nintendo holds out on us that long to make money from hype then i would pay them millions of dollars to tell us now. Plus interest for every future announcement

 

[Fatmanonice]

Ive seen some people saying that sephiroth might get in over geno to promote the ff7 remake but how the hell does that work if the ff7 remake isnt... You know... Coming to the switch. So theres nothing to really promote

Not to mention all the fun topics we've run around to death on Sephiroth:

-Sephiroth would have to not only get a FF VII spirit board but also a SECOND FF VII stage with more music. That ain't happening.

-No third parties franchises have double dipped outside of echoes yet and there's no way in Hell that Sephiroth would be a Cloud echo. Sakurai seemed pretty adamant about no echoes in DLC either so this argument is dead on arrival.

-Geno and Sora are significantly more wanted and this has been the case for both for over a decade.

-Balancing Sephiroth would probably be a pain in the ass given the absurd length of the Masamune is basically its signature trait.

-Yes, Sephiroth is incredibly iconic but that's really not enough, especially when you consider he's only a repeating villain in the spin-offs, not the mainline games. Looking at the other villains in Smash, they are reoccurring and most of them are the final boss in multiple games. Even Mewtwo, Wario, and technically Ridley are the final boss in more games than Sephiroth.

I feel like too much is stacked against Sephiroth specifically for him to wind up becoming our hypothetical (and highly probable) mystery Season 2 Square rep.

 

[Deleted member]

Mod edit: this isn't the thread for Fantastic Four news.

THEY ARE FINALLY COMING TO THE SWITCH CONTRERAS

 

[JarBear]

Oh lord stop this Nintendo and give us a direct!

 

[Fatmanonice]

Oh lord stop this Nintendo and give us a direct!

They also teased today that a Persona 5 Scramble demo was coming next week so, yeah, they're pretty much just ****ing with us at this point and, not going to lie, kind of tired of it...

 

[CannonStreak]

They also teased today that a Persona 5 Scramble demo was coming next week so, yeah, they're pretty much just ****ing with us at this point and, not going to lie, kind of tired of it...

As am I. Do they always mess with us with these Directs, though?

 

[Fatmanonice]

As am I. Do they always mess with us with these Directs, though?

I don't think it's ever been this bad, especially if my guy ends up being wrong about a late January Direct. If he's wrong, that means that Nintendo has more or less been teasing a major Direct for almost a month with no real payout except a mountain of rumors, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon DX, and Byleth, a character that even Fire Emblem fans didn't want.

 

[Spatulo]

I don't think it's ever been this bad, especially if my guy ends up being wrong about a late January Direct. If he's wrong, that means that Nintendo has more or less been teasing a major Direct for almost a month with no real payout except a mountain of rumors, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon DX, and Byleth, a character that even Fire Emblem fans didn't want.

There was that time with the burning Chibi Robo. Now that I think about it, they’ve been making us suffer for the first direct of the year for a couple years now lol.

 

[CannonStreak]

I don't think it's ever been this bad, especially if my guy ends up being wrong about a late January Direct. If he's wrong, that means that Nintendo has more or less been teasing a major Direct for almost a month with no real payout except a mountain of rumors, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon DX, and Byleth, a character that even Fire Emblem fans didn't want.

I'd hate to break it to you, but if there is no Direct this month, I'd say that is your guy's fault for saying that, not Nintendo's. The SKUs and other evidence for a Direct was not from Nintendo themselves, and not of their doing. It was people outside that company who said those things. My sense of responsibility is telling me just that. Also, those who believed what was said, it is kinda their fault for believing something not from Nintendo. Even with that SNES Controller, that was not a direct guarantee for a Direct, wasn't it?

Still, I have a feeling that Nintendo is toying with us with this Direct nonetheless. Possibly secretly delaying it so it doesn't happen on the dates people think it will happen. Can't say it is completely the fault of those outside of Nintendo then, huh?

 

[MonkeyDLenny]

I don't think it's ever been this bad, especially if my guy ends up being wrong about a late January Direct. If he's wrong, that means that Nintendo has more or less been teasing a major Direct for almost a month with no real payout except a mountain of rumors, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon DX, and Byleth, a character that even Fire Emblem fans didn't want.

I'm banking on Mid-February with a Fighter 6 reveal set for an April or May release if I'm being honest

People were antsy earlier when Zippo said "No Direct till E3" but that turned out to be him just speculating.

I mean, our deadline is December 2021 right? I'm thinking the release schedule will go something like this:

Early Year Direct (Jan/Feb) with a fighter set for April or May
E3 Direct with a fighter set for the end of summer (August/September)
Post E3 Direct with a fighter set for a holiday release (November/December)

That's not accounting for potential double reveals though

 

[Professor Pumpkaboo]

They also teased today that a Persona 5 Scramble demo was coming next week so, yeah, they're pretty much just ****ing with us at this point and, not going to lie, kind of tired of it...

is that demo just for JP?

 

[XHero]

Crash Bandicoot

 

[Firox]

I'm just seeing how this week pans out. We're just in a weird spot right now because expectations for the next Direct are through the roof and the thing that sucks is that, unlike Fighter 5, pretty much everyone is saying "yep, this is totally warranted based on what we know" which makes it even worse because, holy hell, some of these rumors for the next Direct are literally unbelievable and I can't wait to see people's reactions if they wind up being true. If all of these surprises wind up being saved until E3, I'm probably going to have a stroke because I've been holding onto some of this **** since like July/August and it's kind of driving me crazy.

I really like your enthusiasm but I'm getting some serious Deja vu with this comment. I recall you saying almost this exact same thing before the VGA's right before it turned into a total and complete bust. Don't get me wrong, I don't doubt that you've heard some crazy rumors and I'm sure that many of them would be pretty hype if true, but Nintendo has given me more than enough PTSD to keep my expectations in the gutter. At this rate, we're probably going to get just a Byleth dump tomorrow and a direct sometime in February that doesn't offer any further info on fighter #6. I sure hope I'm wrong but when it comes to Smash news, the worst case scenario seems to be the only constant.

 

[Fatmanonice]

is that demo just for JP?

Now that I look at it... Yeah, it says Japan...

Firox

I know but it's kind of a bug in my ass because it's coming from all sides. Only a handful of people were trying to hype up the VGAs but with this Direct it's practically everyone that gets this kind of info. "It's going to be a big one. It's going to be a big one. It's going to be a big one." Well... ****... Where is it then?!? Again, this has been going on for over a month and we've been doing this on a weekly basis since the VGAs.

 

[TheShiningAbsol]

...Byleth, a character that even Fire Emblem fans didn't want.

Stop speaking for everyone, thanks

 

[Fatmanonice]

Stop speaking for everyone, thanks

Hyperbole maybe but not totally false. People overwhelmingly wanted the three house leaders, especially Edelgard. That's just being brutally honest. Byleth was openly dreaded by even a good chunk of Fire Emblem fans. Granted, Byleth came out significantly more unique than virtually everyone expected him to be and that was basically what saved the reveal from being a total trainwreck. Again, as a Fire Emblem fan myself and someone who has interacted with a lot of hardcore Fire Emblem fans that even wanted Three Houses to have a playable rep, demand for Byleth was pretty scarce to the point that a lot of people argued that he was a "worst case scenario" for a TH rep.

Plus, I'm going to go ahead and say it: it doesn't ****in' matter. They're in. They're not going anywhere. It's a done deal. People can cope and seethe if they want but it's kind of a waste of energy but God knows there's still people salty about the Ice Climbers, Wii Fit, Corrin, etc.

 

[Professor Pumpkaboo]

Hyperbole maybe but not totally false. People overwhelmingly wanted the three house leaders, especially Edelgard. That's just being brutally honest. Byleth was openly dreaded by even a good chunk of Fire Emblem fans. Granted, Byleth came out significantly more unique than virtually everyone expected him to be and that was basically what saved the reveal from being a total trainwreck. Again, as a Fire Emblem fan myself and someone who has interacted with a lot of hardcore Fire Emblem fans that even wanted Three Houses to have a playable rep, demand for Byleth was pretty scarce to the point that a lot of people argued that he was a "worst case scenario" for a TH rep.

There are plenty of FE fans that are fine with Byleth

 

[Fatmanonice]

There are plenty of FE fans that are fine with Byleth

Same with Corrin but it doesn't change the fact that for most people Blythe was received about as well as a fart in the face. Either way, they didn't exactly come in to a standing ovation. That's just a fact of the matter. It doesn't erase the people who wanted him, it just highlights that they were primarily a minority, even among Fire Emblem fans.

 

[OffBi]

There are plenty of FE fans that are fine with Byleth

There are also fans that aren't fine with it, so what?

 

[T2by4]

Crash Bandicoot

Based

 

[MisterMike]

There are plenty of FE fans that are fine with Byleth

Easy way to showcase this: Watch the Nintendo NY Store reactions to Banjo or Hero or even Terry, then compare them to the reactions towards Byleth. It's ****ing night and goddamn day.

• In the former three, there's barely a moment where people aren't loudly freaking the hell out. Most people probably didn't even know who Terry was and they were freaking out for him.
• In the latter case, you'd get a few people freaking out for about 5 seconds or so before everything falls dead-ass silent. This happened at least twice, and most of the time people were quiet.

These mother****ers will literally cheer for anything and they weren't cheering for Byleth. That speaks volumes for how divisive this character choice was. Sure, there were people who liked Byleth's reveal, but they are very clearly in the minority.

 

[AugustusB]

AND LETS MOVE ON!!!

So Geno seems likely as of right now. But the fear of another Square character is gonna be there. So my question would be, is there another franchise that Square would want to promote? FF7 Remake seems like an obvious choice, but as Fatman surmised, it would be kind of obnoxious to do that.

"OK so I know Cloud Strife didn't get much...but heres Sephiroth with more music and a NEW stage!" (but of course the music could also be on Midgar)

Kingdom Hearts seems like a no brainer, but Disney would be involved (to an extent) so who knows on that one.

Honestly, the absence of the Costume in the First Pass is huge. I guess time will tell.

 

[Dukefire]

Byleth and Version 7.0.0 is coming tomorrow.

Still, for Geno's case. Its can go either way with Sakurai on the Geno mii costume back in Smash 4. But the true question is will Square allow it?