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

[Nicnac]

I do not understandager.

The simplest way to put it is "inb4 Geno gets cucked by Gex".

 

[SpiritOfRuin]

The simplest way to put it is "inb4 Geno gets cucked by Gex".

I do understand I just do not understandager.

 

[MattX20]

Only 2 days left before May comes to a close, and thus, the final days of speculation for FP6

 

[Vector Victor]

Only 2 days left before May comes to a close, and thus, the final days of speculation for FP6

Plot twist: the Smash reveal is June 30th.

Why?

Because 2020 is suck.

 

[MattX20]

Plot twist: the Smash reveal is June 30th.

Why?

Because 2020 is suck.

I don't think Sakurai would wait that long for the reveal.

 

[PatPrime]

Nooooooooo ! MY HOPES FOR SQUIDWARD ! THE BATTLE FOR BIKINI BOTTOM REMAKE MADE HIM SO LIKELY--

For real tho , yeah... It's a bit annoying to see people relate everything and nothing to Smash. I know we're starved for news... But think about the people who are still waiting on simple gameplay footage from Metroid Prime 4 and Bayonetta 3. While the wait is clearly annoying , it could be worse.

I wasn't here back in the brawl days , but didn't it took them like , a year and half to reveal the first newcomer after E3 , being Ike ?

I am indeed waiting on simple gameplay footage from Metroid Prime 4. I am tired of hearing how development is going not that smoothly but at least Retro is a good company that will eventually make a good product.

As a Banjo main and someone who likes cartoony characters and non-human characters that are not boring, you know what else I'm tired of? People questioning why K Rool, Ridley, and Banjo are in the game when "no one is playing them anymore". Like you don't know the info on that and not everything has to be related to competitive play and public matches. If Geno gets in, I swear people will say the same thing about him unless he's high tier or something.

 

[Paraspikey]

Plot twist: the Smash reveal is June 30th.

Why?

Because 2020 is suck.

Very unlikely.
6 is likely done, and the trailer is too, its ready for a reveal, so it wont be that late at all, even if 7 is revealed in the same presentation.

 

[Vector Victor]

I am indeed waiting on simple gameplay footage from Metroid Prime 4. I am tired of hearing how development is going not that smoothly but at least Retro is a good company that will eventually make a good product.

As a Banjo main and someone who likes cartoony characters and non-human characters that are not boring, you know what else I'm tired of? People questioning why K Rool, Ridley, and Banjo are in the game when "no one is playing them anymore". Like you don't know the info on that and not everything has to be related to competitive play and public matches. If Geno gets in, I swear people will say the same thing about him unless he's high tier or something.

Some detractors just can't move on with their lives. They were against these characters so much and instead of saying 'Oops, guess we were wrong' after they were added, they move onto anything else to justify their dislike.

'They shouldn't be in the game because people aren't playing as them!' Then this will turn into 'Well, they aren't being played x%!' which will then turn into 'Their names have letters in them! They shouldn't be playable!'

 

[SpiritOfRuin]

Some detractors just can't move on with their lives. They were against these characters so much and instead of saying 'Oops, guess we were wrong' after they were added, they move onto anything else to justify their dislike.

'They shouldn't be in the game because people aren't playing as them!' Then this will turn into 'Well, they aren't being played x%!' which will then turn into 'Their names have letters in them! They shouldn't be playable!'

Technically Geno's true name has no letters in it.

 

[Inawordyes]

If Geno’s reveal video was a continuation of a previous Ultimate reveal video, I know that Hero’s probably would make the most sense, as he’s literally in a forest [maze], but I think it would be kind of a lot cooler to see them not it for a hypothetical Master Chief reveal, but instead have Geno show up to help ZSS right Ridley as a continuation of his reveal. I think there’s a lot you could do with that, and the fakeout would also call to mind the hype that Ridley’s reveal had around him.

Bonus points if Megaman and Mario somehow survived the first one, so you’d have Geno and Mario together in the same video.

 

[Loliko YnT]

As a Banjo main and someone who likes cartoony characters and non-human characters that are not boring, you know what else I'm tired of? People questioning why K Rool, Ridley, and Banjo are in the game when "no one is playing them anymore". Like you don't know the info on that and not everything has to be related to competitive play and public matches. If Geno gets in, I swear people will say the same thing about him unless he's high tier or something.

As a competitive player who played K.Rool since day one despise the dude being like... Bottom 10 at best , I find this mentality dumb.
In any fighting game , people will be excited for a new DLC character , play them for a week or two , and then the people who will stick with the DLC character would be the people who like them the most. When a DLC is released , there is a **** ton of people playing that character , and then it die down , no matter their tier.

If anything , I see more Banjo , Ridley , and K.Rool , than Terrys. I however don't use that as "Wow , Terry shouldn't be in the game , broken english muscly man bad !!!11!!11"

People just can't move on. The character is in the game , and that's all that matter. Of course some playerbases are bigger than others ; A character being hard to learn , being too zoney , too rush down , ect... Can be barriers depending on the player.
It's normal to see less Icies players than Mario players : Icies are super hard to play , while Mario is easier to play. (Not an insult to any Mario main , it's just to prove my point)

I especially notice this with Banjo , because his bait and punish playstyle isn't the most "active". It's not like Falcon who will run at you and slap you in the face. And that's okay. We need characters with different playstyles , for different players.
Banjo having good projectiles and a more defensive moveset is completely okay. Yet people deem it as doomsday or something.
Some playstyles are simply more popular than other , and once again... It's okay.

People need to understand that. I can understand the issues people has with Banjo , but Iv'e seen far too many people reedem his moveset as a complete failure , when it's silly. Bad movesets imo , are Sonic and Ganondorf tier. They either absolutely do not respect the character , are weak by design , ect...

But seriously , I don't understand how people can say that for Banjo. All his animations and sound effects are top notch , and while his specials are on the simpler side... They completely work with his bait and punish playstyle. He need those projectiles to condition shield , and he need wonderwing as his trump card for reads and call-out/tech chases.
Yeah he's not straight forward , but it doesn't mean that his design his flawed. Otherwise , the dude wouldn't be considered high of mid tier / Low of High tier.
And even if K.Rool is bottom 10 , it doesn't mean his design is bad. He work fully as a character , he honestly has all the tools he need. There is simply better characters competitively , that's all.

---

Tl;dr The character is in the game , people can't mesure how much people play them , and this kind of comment seem more like some kind of frustration being lashed out and nothing of substance.

 

[Enigma735]

I think that when a character that was once heavily requested gets included, they are bound to get tons of hate. Ridley, K. Rool and Banjo were heavy requests back in the day and now that they are in, their are of course tons of fans that are happy, but also a vocal minority of people that will try anything in their power to complain about them. People these days just love hating on popular things so they nitpick about every little thing a certain character has. I guarantee thousands of people like us will be ecstatic to see Geno join the battle, but I also guarantee their is going to be a vocal minority of people that will hate on the character because their *insert most wanted* wasn't included and they take their hate out on someone who was very popular that did get included. I would ignore the vocal minority, especially if Geno gets included.

 

[PatPrime]

Tl;dr The character is in the game , people can't mesure how much people play them , and this kind of comment seem more like some kind of frustration being lashed out and nothing of substance.

Wait are you referring to my quote in general or to me bringing this up? Because if it's the latter, then sorry being a negative nancy here. It's just something I see when I'm on social media and since these are my favorite newcomers, it's frustrating to see people criticize them with no real evidence or substance.

 

[Handy Man]

I ignore the haters. King K. Rool was my most wanted character since Melee, and I am proud to have mained him since launch. Haters gonna hate, and the same fate will happen to every character that gets added, including Geno. At the end of the day, what really matters is how much you enjoy the game. Don't be discouraged by others for things like "Geno is so campy, he's not fun to play as" or "lol at all the people who thought Geno was going to be viable". At the end of the day, your most wanted got in the game, and that's already leagues above others who are waiting for their dream characters to be added. If anything, it just shows that some people are jealous or lonely and are taking it out on the ones who truly care about their character. As long as I keep playing, I will never stop maining King K. Rool, and will continue to compete in tournaments with only him. People can think what they want, but I am proud to use my dream character in Smash regardless of what others think. If Geno does join the battle, I hope his fans can make the most of his playability as well. Geno's fans deserve it.

 

[Fatmanonice]

We're getting close to June so I thought I'd throw something tinfoil hat out for the sake of conversation. I've noticed that for Ultimate, despite leaks, every single Smash presentation was able to keep something major secret amongst a vast majority of insiders:

E3 2018: "Everyone is Here."

August 2018: 4 of the 5 characters.

September 2018: Animal Crossing: New Horizons

November 2018: Plant.

December 2018: Joker himself.

E3 2019: Hero's 4 ALTs

September 2019: Post pass DLC, Sans

January 2020: Byleth, a full second season, Cuphead

March 2020: 6 being ARMS

As we head to E3 2020, there's dog whistles for a number of things but the strangest thing is that, even after almost 5 1/2 months of speculation, there's not a lot as to what's actually in 6. I've talked about it before but Nintendo is really good at keeping first party things right under wraps but 6 has been on the speculation table since last September but there's not anything going around. No one's making cheeky hints. No leaks. Nothing. Even people I talk to who knew everything about Smash at E3 last year have no clue.

What does this mean? We're probably in an Isabelle or Inceniroar situation... Something bigger or unprecedented is going to be announced in the same time frame/presentation. Obviously, not everything can be kept secret and usually third party stuff is what ends up being spoiled. This said, whatever E3 2020's "big surprise" is, it's most likely going to be tied to pack 6 itself because Nintendo is going out of its way to make sure that whole segment is a total secret.

 

[a random user]

We're getting close to June so I thought I'd throw something tinfoil hat out for the sake of conversation. I've noticed that for Ultimate, despite leaks, every single Smash presentation was able to keep something major secret amongst a vast majority of insiders:

E3 2018: "Everyone is Here."

August 2018: 4 of the 5 characters.

September 2018: Animal Crossing: New Horizons

November 2018: Plant.

December 2018: Joker himself.

E3 2019: Hero's 4 ALTs

September 2019: Post pass DLC, Sans

January 2020: Byleth, a full second season, Cuphead

March 2020: 6 being ARMS

As we head to E3 2020, there's dog whistles for a number of things but the strangest thing is that, even after almost 5 1/2 months of speculation, there's not a lot as to what's actually in 6. I've talked about it before but Nintendo is really good at keeping first party things right under wraps but 6 has been on the speculation table since last September but there's not anything going around. No one's making cheeky hints. No leaks. Nothing. Even people I talk to who knew everything about Smash at E3 last year have no clue.

What does this mean? We're probably in an Isabelle or Inceniroar situation... Something bigger or unprecedented is going to be announced in the same time frame/presentation. Obviously, not everything can be kept secret and usually third party stuff is what ends up being spoiled. This said, whatever E3 2020's "big surprise" is, it's most likely going to be tied to pack 6 itself because Nintendo is going out of its way to make sure that whole segment is a total secret.

not sure how much could be tied in with arms beyond a sequel/dlc, and I'm not sure they would make dlc given how much of the player base has dropped off
edit: so whatever they have planed likely has to do with other char reveals

 

[MattX20]

We're getting close to June so I thought I'd throw something tinfoil hat out for the sake of conversation. I've noticed that for Ultimate, despite leaks, every single Smash presentation was able to keep something major secret amongst a vast majority of insiders:

E3 2018: "Everyone is Here."

August 2018: 4 of the 5 characters.

September 2018: Animal Crossing: New Horizons

November 2018: Plant.

December 2018: Joker himself.

E3 2019: Hero's 4 ALTs

September 2019: Post pass DLC, Sans

January 2020: Byleth, a full second season, Cuphead

March 2020: 6 being ARMS

As we head to E3 2020, there's dog whistles for a number of things but the strangest thing is that, even after almost 5 1/2 months of speculation, there's not a lot as to what's actually in 6. I've talked about it before but Nintendo is really good at keeping first party things right under wraps but 6 has been on the speculation table since last September but there's not anything going around. No one's making cheeky hints. No leaks. Nothing. Even people I talk to who knew everything about Smash at E3 last year have no clue.

What does this mean? We're probably in an Isabelle or Inceniroar situation... Something bigger or unprecedented is going to be announced in the same time frame/presentation. Obviously, not everything can be kept secret and usually third party stuff is what ends up being spoiled. This said, whatever E3 2020's "big surprise" is, it's most likely going to be tied to pack 6 itself because Nintendo is going out of its way to make sure that whole segment is a total secret.

They've done a pretty good job of keeping the exact ARMS rep identity a secret, so if that's the case, we've got something big to look at.

 

[Loliko YnT]

Wait are you referring to my quote in general or to me bringing this up? Because if it's the latter, then sorry being a negative nancy here. It's just something I see when I'm on social media and since these are my favorite newcomers, it's frustrating to see people criticize them with no real evidence or substance.

Don't worry , I wasn't refering to you , I was explaining why people were like "this character's addition is bad because nobody play them".

Sometimes it's better to ignore what some social media say. While it's a bit cliché , the smash community can be very toxic at times , and sometimes ignoring them is the best solution.

 

[Megadoomer]

Considering that E3 2018 gave us Ridley, and E3 2019 gave us Banjo and Kazooie, here's hoping that E3 2020 the June Smash presentation gives us another long-awaited fan favourite. (I'm hoping for Geno, since he's one of the few characters that's had pretty consistent demand for as long as those two and K. Rool - plus, having him as the seventh Fighters Pass character and the 77th unique character would be pretty fitting)

 

[Andwooooo]

Considering that E3 2018 gave us Ridley, and E3 2019 gave us Banjo and Kazooie, here's hoping that E3 2020 the June Smash presentation gives us another long-awaited fan favourite. (I'm hoping for Geno, since he's one of the few characters that's had pretty consistent demand for as long as those two and K. Rool - plus, having him as the seventh Fighters Pass character and the 77th unique character would be pretty fitting)

I just hope that Nintendo’s not so dedicated to the pattern that they delay his reveal until next year since E3 is gone this year.

 

[MattX20]

I just hope that Nintendo’s not so dedicated to the pattern that they delay his reveal until next year since E3 is gone this year.

Nintendo can't afford to do that. It may be the last season of DLC, but they need to sell it, and ARMS alone isn't going to do so. Either a major fan favorite request or a big 3rd party character reveal even casual audiences would go nuts over like Crash Bandicoot or Rayman will do the trick

 

[Andwooooo]

That was more of a joke.

[Edit] Conspiracy theory hat time:

https://twitter.com/nintendoamerica/status/1266413996934119424?s=21

Nintendo tweeted this out because their *first* Mario RPG *also* featured Samus’s helmet... and the rest of her too, I guess.

Hm...

 

[Firox]

Because 2020 is suck.

It's like....poetry. So much truth housed within a four-word, grammatically incorrect sentence. So beautiful.

 

[Loliko YnT]

It might be silly , but honestly... At I'm a point where if Geno isn't a DLC character down the line , I'm sure I'll be dropping Smash.

I'm not saying this out of pettyness , the game is really fun. But Iv'e played Smash competitive for so long that... I'm honestly starting to lose my passion for it. I have less and less opportunities to do tourneys , even online. I'm at a point where I'm either "Oh , I won" or "Oh , I lost , guess he's better than me" , I don't feel all that mad for losing , and I just don't feel much satisfaction.

Hence why honestly... Geno would be a deal breaker for me. He's litteraly the character I'm the most invested on since the beginning of Ultimate's speculation , it honestly was my first time just going on a message board and spending 600 messages and going daily to talk about a character. This dummy star spirit and the community around it is something truly special that I just can't forget. I managed to meet one of my best friends thanks to that.

God I really hope Geno will be here down the line...

 

[Droodle]

Nintendo can't afford to do that. It may be the last season of DLC, but they need to sell it, and ARMS alone isn't going to do so. Either a major fan favorite request or a big 3rd party character reveal even casual audiences would go nuts over like Crash Bandicoot or Rayman will do the trick

Even then though, those characters are really only popular in the Western fanbase. Rayman has never been popular in Japan, and Crash was popular back in PS1 days but nowadays in Japan he struggles a ton (he's still more popular then the likes of Rayman) that said he is still fairly decently requested over there but it's definitely not as big as before.

I personally don't think we'll get 3 characters (ARMS + 2) revealed next month, but if they do; they could do something similar to last year where it was a Western pick (something like Geno/Crash/Rayman/Waluigi) and then a Japanese pick (Lloyd/Reimu/Bandana Dee/Rex/Monster Hunter). Otherwise if we get ARMS + 1 more character, the only character I can think of that has huge demand in all regions is Sora but I doubt that he'll get in.

I think we need to stop thinking that the character after ARMS will be another absolutely HUGE reveal like Hero + Banjo last year. I think the most likely thing to happen is that we'll get the ARMS character + 1 character with a decently big fanbase/iconicity. I could see anyone from the likes of Geno, Crash, Sephiroth and Rayman to Rex, Bandana Dee, Paper Mario, and Monster Hunter + all the other picks around that level being valid enough "E3 picks" in Nintendo eyes.

 

[MattX20]

It might be silly , but honestly... At I'm a point where if Geno isn't a DLC character down the line , I'm sure I'll be dropping Smash.

I'm not saying this out of pettyness , the game is really fun. But Iv'e played Smash competitive for so long that... I'm honestly starting to lose my passion for it. I have less and less opportunities to do tourneys , even online. I'm at a point where I'm either "Oh , I won" or "Oh , I lost , guess he's better than me" , I don't feel all that mad for losing , and I just don't feel much satisfaction.

Hence why honestly... Geno would be a deal breaker for me. He's litteraly the character I'm the most invested on since the beginning of Ultimate's speculation , it honestly was my first time just going on a message board and spending 600 messages and going daily to talk about a character. This dummy star spirit and the community around it is something truly special that I just can't forget. I managed to meet one of my best friends thanks to that.

God I really hope Geno will be here down the line...

We have more reasons to be optimistic now than not

 

[Zem-raj]

That was more of a joke.

[Edit] Conspiracy theory hat time:

https://twitter.com/nintendoamerica/status/1266413996934119424?s=21

Nintendo tweeted this out because their *first* Mario RPG *also* featured Samus’s helmet... and the rest of her too, I guess.

Hm...

The Samus helmet and DK head are both in the game likely because Kensuke Tanabe has been involved in the Metroid Prime series, Donkey Kong Country series (Donkey Kong Country Returns and Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze), as well as the Paper Mario series from Super Paper Mario onwards (including this game). There's no hidden meaning behind it, it's just a fun Easter Egg/cameo that they decided to show off in the reveal trailer.

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption and Metroid Prime Trilogy featured a Paper Mario head bumper sticker for Samus' Gunship:

Samus' Gunship and Metroids were in the backgrounds of Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze levels:

I don't want to be a killjoy, but a Samus reference in Paper Mario: The Origami King doesn't really mean anything for Geno and Super Mario RPG.

 

[Fatmanonice]

I don't think 6's Sexy Secret ™ is ARMS 2 because, like I've talked about before, Smash is a hype black hole to the point that Banjo almost overshadowed Breath of the Wild 2's announcement last year. Think about that... A single Smash character almost trumped the sequel to the best selling and best reviewed Zelda game of all time. ARMS 2 would be so painfully overshadowed that people would probably forget it was even announced.

The reason this worked with Isabelle is because Smash, especially Ultimate, implement the sandwich method pretty well. If the deliver need that's "bad" or mediocre, they virtually always follow it up with something that turns heads. Plant had the Fighter's Pass. Hero had Banjo. Terry had additional DLC. Byleth had an entire second season. I love Isabelle but she was a mixed bag. A semi clone whose demand was mostly with casual players. She got a big boost from New Horizons because it was one of the most demanded Switch games and AC fans had been begging for a new console AC for almost a decade. It's honestly one of the few occurrences in Smash history that the biggest announcements in a Direct that had Smash wasn't Smash.

Going back to 6, something that makes me really wax my mustache is how every E3 has an announcement that's big enough that even the MSM gets how big of a deal it is.

2006- Third party characters are joining Smash. Holy ****!

2013- Megaman's joining Smash. Holy ****!

2014- Pac-Man's joining Smash. Holy ****!

2015- Ryu's joining Smash. Holy ****!

2018- Every character ever in Smash is coming back. Holy ****!

2019- A Microsoft character is joining Smash. Holy ****!

2020- ???

Based on this, the "big" story definitely isn't ARMS and, while Geno's muh boi, he likely isn't either because your typical CNN, Newsweek, IGN etc reporter isn't going to know who the **** he is. Geno's is a huge fan favorite but, that's the keyword, "fan" because, if we're brutally honest, your average Joe isn't going to know or give a **** about Ridley or K. Rool either. This isn't an insult because your typical toad on the road isn't likely to know who Ness, Robin, Pit, Bayonetta, etc are either. This is why Nintendo's pretty particular at bringing out the big guns at E3 because they know everyone who is casually interested in video games will likely pay attention. Megaman is iconic AF. Same with Ryu and Pac-Man. People may not know who Banjo is but a Microsoft character, a direct competitor with Nintendo, is very obviously a big deal even if you're finger-in-nose-eyes-crossed-dumber-than-holy-hell. It's like if Pepsi and Coke or McDonald's and Burger King teamed up and anyone can recognize the significance of this.

 

[Loliko YnT]

We have more reasons to be optimistic now than not

And I agree with you. But nothing is sadly guaranteed , and that's what really scare me.
This pass feel like it could get anything at this point , and it's both a good and bad thing.

 

[pinshadow]

I don't think 6's Sexy Secret ™ is ARMS 2 because, like I've talked about before, Smash is a hype black hole to the point that Banjo almost overshadowed Breath of the Wild 2's announcement last year. Think about that... A single Smash character almost trumped the sequel to the best selling and best reviewed Zelda game of all time. ARMS 2 would be so painfully overshadowed that people would probably forget it was even announced.

The reason this worked with Isabelle is because Smash, especially Ultimate, implement the sandwich method pretty well. If the deliver need that's "bad" or mediocre, they virtually always follow it up with something that turns heads. Plant had the Fighter's Pass. Hero had Banjo. Terry had additional DLC. Byleth had an entire second season. I love Isabelle but she was a mixed bag. A semi clone whose demand was mostly with casual players. She got a big boost from New Horizons because it was one of the most demanded Switch games and AC fans had been begging for a new console AC for almost a decade. It's honestly one of the few occurrences in Smash history that the biggest announcements in a Direct that had Smash wasn't Smash.

Going back to 6, something that makes me really wax my mustache is how every E3 has an announcement that's big enough that even the MSM gets how big of a deal it is.

2006- Third party characters are joining Smash. Holy ****!

2013- Megaman's joining Smash. Holy ****!

2014- Pac-Man's joining Smash. Holy ****!

2015- Ryu's joining Smash. Holy ****!

2018- Every character ever in Smash is coming back. Holy ****!

2019- A Microsoft character is joining Smash. Holy ****!

2020- ???

Based on this, the "big" story definitely isn't ARMS and, while Geno's muh boi, he likely isn't either because your typical CNN, Newsweek, IGN etc reporter isn't going to know who the **** he is. Geno's is a huge fan favorite but, that's the keyword, "fan" because, if we're brutally honest, your average Joe isn't going to know or give a **** about Ridley or K. Rool either. This isn't an insult because your typical toad on the road isn't likely to know who Ness, Robin, Pit, Bayonetta, etc are either. This is why Nintendo's pretty particular at bringing out the big guns at E3 because they know everyone who is casually interested in video games will likely pay attention. Megaman is iconic AF. Same with Ryu and Pac-Man. People may not know who Banjo is but a Microsoft character, a direct competitor with Nintendo, is very obviously a big deal even if you're finger-in-nose-eyes-crossed-dumber-than-holy-hell. It's like if Pepsi and Coke or McDonald's and Burger King teamed up and anyone can recognize the significance of this.

See, but here's the thing, there IS no E3 this year. I know that's blatantly obvious but what I mean is all of the big E3 announcements for everyone are being spread throughout the Summer, and Nintendo, unlike Sony and Microsoft, seems pretty content with randomly spreading their stuff out rather than holding one big event.

The reason I bring this up is that whenever we get the ARMS character in the coming weeks, it's going to be in a Smash-Presentation, direct or otherwise. It's likely going to be dropped the exact same way the rest have, just announced a couple days before and then it gets streamed. Will Nintendo feel the need to go all in on that and have some big giant earthshattering pick? Probably not. 7 is almost inevitable to see, but doesn't it make more sense to spread out the reveals a bit now that they don't have the pressure of a giant E3 event, and clearly are scrambling to make sure their Holiday lineup stays intact? I just think 8 is way more likely to appear later in the year, regardless of what was initially planned.

 

[Firox]

And I agree with you. But nothing is sadly guaranteed , and that's what really scare me.
This pass feel like it could get anything at this point , and it's both a good and bad thing.

I gotta say, while I definitely think Geno's chances are better than ever, I do find additions like Byleth and ARMS to be pretty scary. It shows that Nintendo definitely isn't above pushing their own agenda regardless of general character reception. That's not to say that SOMEONE isn't hyped for pretty much anything, but it's also easy to argue that certain additions could have garnered much more hype. I mean, we still got DLC like Banjo so the sky's the limit, but we could just as easily end up some kind of shilly trash if Nintendo thinks it's worth it. It's that "mystery box" approach they've given us that leaves room for doubt. That said, I'd really be surprised if Geno gets screwed yet again.

 

[Polarthief]

but doesn't it make more sense to spread out the reveals a bit now that they don't have the pressure of a giant E3 event, and clearly are scrambling to make sure their Holiday lineup stays intact? I just think 8 is way more likely to appear later in the year, regardless of what was initially planned.

Not if they're adhering to a schedule. Let's assume no bonuses and take a look at said schedule:
- Q1 Direct: 6, but they needed more time, so 6 is being pushed to "E3"
- "E3": 7 and 8, 6 also being shown here because they needed more time.
- Q3/4 Direct: 9
- Q1 Direct (2021): 10
- E3 (2021): 11

If you strip 8 from E3 2020, all the numbers get shoved down one slot, which means 11 would end up being shown at the Q3/4 direct, which you could do, but does Nintendo really want to stretch out these reveals to basically the end of 2021? Idk, especially given how "oh here's the new Smash character lul" in the mini direct: They casually threw it in the MIDDLE of the direct, which is like, the worst area to put a big announcement (granted, it was a half-reveal so it makes sense). Honestly I'm on the fence on more than ARMS+1. On the one hand, I can see it, and on the other, I can totally see them wanting to frontload the reveals to get more people purchasing halfway through the pass rather than just a third of it. I'd be willing to bet most people who bought FP1 that weren't a pre-Joker-reveal purchase bought it after Hero+Banjo were shown off than any other point.

7 is ABG; if 7 doesn't show up, straight up, **** Nintendo for doing this to us. After pulling the BS that was the March mini direct with the "WHO IS THE ARMS REP TEEHEE! XD" nonsense and then only showing the ARMS rep at "E3" would be the biggest middle finger, which is why I want to give them the BOTD and am totally expecting #7. All that said, if there's even one bonus character and they want *ALL* Smash DLC done before 2022 (and we're assuming there won't be any big delays), it's practically guaranteed we're getting ARMS+2 reveals in the "E3" event, which would end up being 7 + either 8 or a bonus. Basically, the odds are in favor of seeing a second reveal (past #6) if you consider everything.

I do find additions like Byleth and ARMS to be pretty scary.

Byleth was just straight up a scum move to do for DLC; would have stung way less if Byleth was base and not a character people who already bought the pass ended up paying extra for (or at least an extra, not-in-the-FP DLC character). ARMS stings less (stings more because it's just after Byleth) because people kinda expected a fighter in base instead of an AT, plus the ad/shill pick being at the beginning of the pass instead of at the end is way less scummy. FP1 already hooked us with Joker, Hero, and Banjo, and then it's like "oh btw, you prepaid for Byleth, lul".

Honestly though, I think they're done with the ad/shill picks (at least from Nintendo; a third party could totally shill and even pay Nintendo for it) and we're in for the big **** energy picks now.

 

[LiveStudioAudience]

Byleth was just straight up a scum move to do for DLC; would have stung way less if Byleth was base and not a character people who already bought the pass ended up paying extra for. ARMS stings less (stings more because it's just after Byleth) because people kinda expected a fighter in base instead of an AT, plus the ad/shill pick being at the beginning of the pass instead of at the end is way less scummy. FP1 already hooked us with Joker, Hero, and Banjo, and then it's like "oh btw, you prepaid for Byleth, lul".

Honestly though, I think they're done with the ad/shill picks (at least from Nintendo; a third party could totally shill and even pay Nintendo for it) and we're in for the big **** energy picks now.

I'd be more inclined to say Byleth was Nintendo just wanting to strike while the iron was hot with Three Houses and there being a disconnect between them and the more hardcore Smash fans about how to end the pass. Their whole reveal more reeks of dubious execution of a revealed character associated with a prominent series than trying to get away with a scummy attempt at shilling.

Even before the current quarantine I always figured we'd be getting Smash reveals for the second fighter's pass roughly every Direct (ie, March, June, September). I don't think Fighter 8 is being revealed until Fall, which does have me thinking Fighter 7 just might be significant enough to quell any disappointment about the lack of news on the former.

I'd love to have a March 2021 direct that showed up Geno as Fighter 9 right around Mario RPG's 25h anniversary, but who knows.

 

[MisterMike]

Based on this, the "big" story definitely isn't ARMS and, while Geno's muh boi, he likely isn't either because your typical CNN, Newsweek, IGN etc reporter isn't going to know who the **** he is. Geno's is a huge fan favorite but, that's the keyword, "fan" because, if we're brutally honest, your average Joe isn't going to know or give a **** about Ridley or K. Rool either.

You say that, but then you see **** like this:

And suddenly it doesn't feel so unlikely.

 

[Polarthief]

I'd be more inclined to say Byleth was Nintendo just wanting to strike while the iron was hot with Three Houses and there being a disconnect between them and the more hardcore Smash fans about how to end the pass. Their whole reveal more reeks of dubious execution of a revealed character associated with a prominent series that trying to get away with a scummy attempt at shilling.

But the problem is even Sakurai is aware and agrees with the issue: The Smash fans don't want more FE characters (ESPECIALLY not primarily-sword-using ones, which of course Byleth is because 90% of the main protags in every FE game is), and pushing FE through Smash was nothing short of being dumb and not giving it more thought. Regardless though, Byleth is old news; they happened, they're here, nothing is gonna change that.

Even before the current quarantine I always figured we'd be getting Smash reveals for the second fighter's pass roughly every Direct (ie, March, June, September). I don't think Fighter 8 is being revealed until Fall, which does have me thinking Fighter 7 just might be significant enough to quell any disappointment about the lack of news on the former.

I was assuming that originally: 1 fighter per major direct (Q1, E3, Q3/4) of the year for 2 years, but then I realized that not only could there be bonuses (which ruins this line of logic completely), but there's nothing forcing them to stick to the 2-year format (other than finishing by or before that). With the assumed plan than E3 was gonna show off 2 more characters and ARMS rep was gonna be fully shown off in Q1, this would also give us half the pass by E3, which would greatly increase sales of it. Also with quarantine going on, they would want to frontload what they have to keep us satiated for a bit, just in case they need to delay 9-11 due to corona potentially becoming worse and lasting way longer (and while idk about Japan, but with how absolutely stupid and selfish America is being right now, I totally see a second outbreak happening). If there's no big delays though, they have 4 major events (+2 if you count VGAs) to plan out 3 character reveals (assuming no bonuses) if they drop #8 in June, as opposed to only 3 (+2 for VGAs) if they don't since 8 would come around fall with the would-be Q3/4 direct. It just gives them more wiggle room for the last characters, which can be important to them.

I'd love to have a March 2021 direct that showed up Geno as Fighter 9 right around Mario RPG's 25h anniversary, but who knows.

While it'd be neat, I absolutely do not want to waste (yes, *waste*) another year (well ~9 months) of waiting, hoping, and speculating on Geno, especially after he failed to show up for 7 and 8. That would lead to me being extremely sad and pessimistic about the whole thing for quite awhile. I also just don't see them doing it when Nintendo randomly chose to give a shoutout to SMRPG's 22nd anniversary but not their 20th nor their 21st, 23rd, or 24th (which may end up being the most important one as Geno may be coming very soon). Maybe SMRPG will drop on NSO for the 25th? Who knows at this point.

 

[Fatmanonice]

There's no E3 this year but for all infants and tortoises it's still E3, just stretched out until August. Like Mister Mike said, shifting this still disrupts the schedule of things and major announcements are still planned fairly far in advance. Keep in mind that E3 wasn't officially cancelled until near mid March and, knowing Nintendo, they probably had a decent layout of what they were going to show as early as fall 2019. That said, Nintendo's likely to still announce everything it intended to announce at E3 2020 even if it's no longer in one presentation.

 

[LiveStudioAudience]

Part of it is that I'm a sucker for anniversary celebrations (which makes all the more disappointed that Nintendo rarely's interested in them outside Mario or Zelda most of the time.).

Its the same reason my dream would be to have a Dixie Kong come out around fall of this year to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Diddy's Kong Quest

 

[Let Geno Smash]

I don't think 6's Sexy Secret ™ is ARMS 2 because, like I've talked about before, Smash is a hype black hole to the point that Banjo almost overshadowed Breath of the Wild 2's announcement last year. Think about that... A single Smash character almost trumped the sequel to the best selling and best reviewed Zelda game of all time. ARMS 2 would be so painfully overshadowed that people would probably forget it was even announced.

The reason this worked with Isabelle is because Smash, especially Ultimate, implement the sandwich method pretty well. If the deliver need that's "bad" or mediocre, they virtually always follow it up with something that turns heads. Plant had the Fighter's Pass. Hero had Banjo. Terry had additional DLC. Byleth had an entire second season. I love Isabelle but she was a mixed bag. A semi clone whose demand was mostly with casual players. She got a big boost from New Horizons because it was one of the most demanded Switch games and AC fans had been begging for a new console AC for almost a decade. It's honestly one of the few occurrences in Smash history that the biggest announcements in a Direct that had Smash wasn't Smash.

Going back to 6, something that makes me really wax my mustache is how every E3 has an announcement that's big enough that even the MSM gets how big of a deal it is.

2006- Third party characters are joining Smash. Holy ****!

2013- Megaman's joining Smash. Holy ****!

2014- Pac-Man's joining Smash. Holy ****!

2015- Ryu's joining Smash. Holy ****!

2018- Every character ever in Smash is coming back. Holy ****!

2019- A Microsoft character is joining Smash. Holy ****!

2020- ???

Based on this, the "big" story definitely isn't ARMS and, while Geno's muh boi, he likely isn't either because your typical CNN, Newsweek, IGN etc reporter isn't going to know who the **** he is. Geno's is a huge fan favorite but, that's the keyword, "fan" because, if we're brutally honest, your average Joe isn't going to know or give a **** about Ridley or K. Rool either. This isn't an insult because your typical toad on the road isn't likely to know who Ness, Robin, Pit, Bayonetta, etc are either. This is why Nintendo's pretty particular at bringing out the big guns at E3 because they know everyone who is casually interested in video games will likely pay attention. Megaman is iconic AF. Same with Ryu and Pac-Man. People may not know who Banjo is but a Microsoft character, a direct competitor with Nintendo, is very obviously a big deal even if you're finger-in-nose-eyes-crossed-dumber-than-holy-hell. It's like if Pepsi and Coke or McDonald's and Burger King teamed up and anyone can recognize the significance of this.

So what do you think it may be?

 

[Griselda]

Part of it is that I'm a sucker for anniversary celebrations (which makes all the more disappointed that Nintendo rarely's interested in them outside Mario or Zelda most of the time.).

Its the same reason my dream would be to have a Dixie Kong come out around fall of this year to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Diddy's Kong Quest

Every time I see the title of that game, I have to double-take and go, "It isn't Diddy Kong's Quest? ..Oh, right."

 

[Enigma735]

I know this may be an unpopular opinion on this board, but I personally think in a hypothetical world that if a different Mario character like Waluigi or Paper Mario gets included in this Pass, all my hope for Geno will drop to a 0%. I know you guys bring up the fact that Waluigi\Paper Mario are owned by different companies which would equal different company representation, but I think Nintendo is also considering franchise representation as well and I don't think that Nintendo would want two Mario reps in the same Pass, even though Geno is owned by a third-party company.

I still think Geno has a pretty damn good chance and more likely then most people give him credit for, and more likely then other Mario characters, but if for some off chance some other Mario rep gets in, all my hope for Geno will be gone.