On top of this every DLC spirit board has had at least 7 spirits and there's currently 10 playable characters from ARMS that don't have spirits at all so that practically writes itself. Other stuff to consider:
-Spring Man and Ribbongirl were literally revealed to the world at the exact same time:
-5 of the characters were DLC with 2 being bosses and 1 basically being "Metal Spring Man." It likely won't be any of them.
-Ninjara was also present since the very first trailer.
-Here's the back of the box:
View attachment 267207
Oh look~, Spring Man and Ribbongirl are dead center in almost every screenshot (except the one with Ninjara and Min-Min, HUH; IMAGINE THAT~) and literally in the middle of the character roster at the top.
Like I said, for 6 to not be a promotion, they would have to swerve the characters that literally launched the franchise. That would be like if Metaknight had come before Kirby or Louie/Alph before Olimar or Corrin before Marth. It has never happened before (knock on wood) but they always do the main character/s that launched the series before they go into side characters and villains.
To add on to this, Spring Man, Ribbon Girl, Min Min, and Ninjara are front and center in most promotional art I've seen for ARMS. They're undeniably some of the most popular characters and were designed to be such - they have the kind of tame but also eye-popping design that main characters get. There's another Nintendo franchise with no real "story" mode, but a character that gets recognized as the "main" guy, despite the fact that it's more about the competition than it is about any of the competitors, and these four characters keep getting singled out...
Same energy. ARMS is fortunate in comparison to F-Zero, in that the big four have the same body type and the same abilities.
I agree completely. I don't really get what there is to complain about with ARMS. Byleth, a gen 8 Pokemon, and to a lesser extent a Mario character (*glances at Geno*) all get hated on because muh over-representation. So we get a character from an entirely new IP , the literal only character from that franchise (and even if it's more than one via alts, that's still just one character, one slot, one moveset) and yet, complaints?
Sure. ARMS wasn't the most successful game. Sometimes, though, that's the point in adding a character to Smash. Sometimes series could use a little more love, and ARMS is one of em. Marth and Roy were added to Melee to bring attention to Fire Emblem in the west, same for Hero and DQ. Shulk helped Xenoblade get the love it needed. Now, it's ARMS' turn to grab the baton.
Posts like this confuse the hell out of me. What is it that people don't get about the fact that no one's complaining about ARMS because it's not Fire Emblem or Pokemon?
"I don't get why people complain about COVID-19, it's not drug-resistant tuberculosis!"
The initial reaction is so much better than the initial reaction to Byleth it's insane, and yet people still feel the need to point out how it's not all about popularity or whatever, or how ARMS needs love too... but there's Nintendo franchises that have a huge, vocal fan following that need just as much love that aren't getting it. People have a right to be confused and even upset that a character from the previously mentioned F-Zero, or someone like Isaac, franchises that haven't seen a game in a decade or more, aren't getting that baton pass.
People here keep saying ARMS wasn't successful and I really have to wonder what your barometer for success is.
ARMS sold two million units. For a brand new IP. For a brand new fighting game IP. For a brand new fighting game IP from a studio with no experience making fighting games.
ARMS was absolutely a success, and to say otherwise is, frankly, ludicrous. People see Splatoon's numbers and somehow think that's the norm for a new series. News flash, it isn't. Splatoon is by all means an outlier.
I come from an era where if a game sold a million copies, it got a special re-release and was considered a massive commercial success, but for better or for worse, times change. Nowadays, I'm not sure if I'd call 2.1 million sales in a
year a success. ARMS released three months after the Switch, which, in typical Nintendo fashion, released with a very bare lineup of games. 1-2-Switch is a forgettable tech demo in comparison to Wii Sports (and was bundled with the console for a good while), and if I remember correctly from my recent research, a lot of ARMS sales were from that first month. Of course it sold well, it was a game on a relatively barren console, but it had the misfortune of having to compete with Breath of the Wild, the Mario Kart 8 port, and Splatoon 2 that released less than a month later. I gave the game a chance, so I'm not talking out of my ass when I say that the gameplay (you know, the important part) doesn't carry it in the face of those games. [WARNING: OPINION] It's not fun [END OPINION]. Oh, and for the record? In the same amount of time as ARMS managed 2.1 million, the Switch itself sold 15 million. Only 13% of Switch owners felt like giving ARMS a chance.
Nintendo tried to push an esports focused game and it flopped compared to their other esports focused title, and Nintendo admits it - how many ARMS Invitationals have they held? This is why I say they probably have no intention of making ARMS 2 - there's no reason to put more money into a new IP that just didn't do so hot. Sticking a rep into Smash helps them cash in a bit more on the IP without actually working on it - millions of Smash owners will likely purchase this fighter, thousands of those being competitive players who have no option but to purchase it. To put that into perspective for you, more people will buy the ARMS fighter in Smash than bought ARMS. Being fair, though, that probably holds true for every fighter in the first Fighters Pass, barring Hero.
This has been a lot of words, and I know how people are borderline illiterate and hate to read lengthy opinions, so if you'd like a summary, I think most of us know that sales, popularity, fan demand, etc are not deciding factors for a character getting into Smash. At worst it's a dartboard shot and in the best case scenario there might be some thought put into it. I just have a huge problem with this overwhelming tendency I see from some people that seem to think that because they're ok with [thing] means that they have some sort of moral high ground. This all stems from the same place that all Smash complaints come from, a misguided concept of what's fair or what "should have" been done. Let people complain, for Christ's sake, it's literally not hurting anyone and acting high and mighty because you don't feel the need to complain actually causes more drama and damage than if you just sat aside and let it fizzle out.
