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

[EarlTamm]

2900 pages on the next post after this

That's pretty cool.

 

[RetrogamerMax]

I think we're a little revisionist when it comes to Ridley and Banjo. A lot of people are now like "oh, it's so obvious it was going to happen" but honestly not really. Aside from Heihachi and Chrom, Ridley was one of the few characters that Sakurai's ever gone in depth to explain why they weren't in Smash yet. A lot of people figured Nintendo would eventually cave due to sheer fan demand but there was no guarantee, ironically because of other denied evergreen requests like Daisy, K. Rool, and Geno. It also didn't help that Ridley's exclusion was a technical issue and Sakurai trying to figure out how to implement Ridley in Smash without making him huge or broken as holy hell. Ridley was a prime case of a pipe dream until he wasn't.

Banjo did fit the Fighter's Pass overall theme because it was an addition from a very unexpected place. Yes, there was fan demand but a big reason a lot of people blew me off last April was because "it seemed too good to be true." The Bird and Bear pair hadn't had a meaningful appearance on a Nintendo platform in almost 20 years (the GBA games never made it to Japan and were NA and EU exclusives), the series itself had basically been dead a decade, and, to top it all off, they were owned by one of Nintendo's two main competitors. In hindsight, a lot was in their favor but keep in mind that the overall public opinion heavily favored Steven Cubiverse for a Microsoft rep literally up until a few weeks before E3 2019. Again, the odds were pretty damn stacked against Banjo because of a mile of red tape but it eventually came to pass in the, er, Fighter's Pass.

We can thank Phil Spencer for that miracle. Without him, Banjo & Kazooie probably wouldn't have gotten into Smash. He gave the thumbs up for their inclusion as early as the beginning of the Smash Ballot.

2900!

 

[Let Geno Smash]

2900! Yeah, We made it

 

[AdamBel731]

I don't know if this is a hot take or not, but I think Geno is coming to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate at some point as a playable character.

 

[MattX20]

There is no doubt in my mind that 3000 pages will be acquired when Geno is confirmed

 

[RetrogamerMax]

There is no doubt in my mind that 3000 pages will be acquired when Geno is confirmed

Honestly, we will surpass 3000 pages before doll boi is confirmed because this thread moves fast as ****.

 

[Geno Boost]

2900 pages on the next post after this

Geno will become real after 100 pages

 

[Fatmanonice]

To be fair, “Characters the Smash fanbase didn’t predict to happen” is a pretty large category, if that’s what you mean by “unexpected places”

No, if you really sit and think about it, the odds were pretty stacked against all the Fighter's Pass characters, including Byleth.

-Joker: Persona 5 wasn't on Nintendo consoles and was overwhelmingly a "Sony" series. Nintendo still regularly got SMT games but nobody was really expecting it to get a rep. Hell, even SMT fans thought it would be Jack Frost if the series ever came to Smash.

-Hero: hardcore liscensing nightmare. Your typical Dragon Quest game technically has the rights split up between 3 or 4 entities. I'm still shocked that Sakurai pulled it off.

-Banjo: explained in my last post.

-Terry: I don't think anyone was ever expecting SNK to get a rep in Smash, especially since there's never really been hard demand for one.

-Byleth: "Shill" arguments aside, Sakurai had already said he had turned down ARMS and Xenoblade 2 characters because they came out too late in development. Three Houses didn't even come out until July 2019, more than 2 years after ARMS, so it was still kind of a shock.

 

[MattX20]

No, if you really sit and think about it, the odds were pretty stacked against all the Fighter's Pass characters, including Byleth.

-Joker: Persona 5 wasn't on Nintendo consoles and was overwhelmingly a "Sony" series. Nintendo still regularly got SMT games but nobody was really expecting it to get a rep. Hell, even SMT fans thought it would be Jack Frost if the series ever came to Smash.

-Hero: hardcore liscensing nightmare. Your typical Dragon Quest game technically has the rights split up between 3 or 4 entities. I'm still shocked that Sakurai pulled it off.

-Banjo: explained in my last post.

-Terry: I don't think anyone was ever expecting SNK to get a rep in Smash, especially since there's never really been hard demand for one.

-Byleth: "Shill" arguments aside, Sakurai had already said he had turned down ARMS and Xenoblade 2 characters because they came out too late in development. Three Houses didn't even come out until July 2019, more than 2 years after ARMS, so it was still kind of a shock.

Xenoblade fans are still understandably bitter about the whole thing

 

[AugustusB]

Xenoblade fans are still understandably bitter about the whole thing

As a big Rex fan, it absolutely stung a bit when that happened.

 

[RetrogamerMax]

Xenoblade fans are still understandably bitter about the whole thing

I don't want to go too off topic, but it's bull**** that Fire Emblem already had 6 characters before Ultimate and received 2 more newcomers while Xenoblade still only has 1 rep. We deserve a 2nd Xenoblade rep whether it's Rex or Elma.

 

[Firox]

Xenoblade fans are still understandably bitter about the whole thing

Shilling aside, I think that was one of the biggest reasons that Byleth's reception was so controversial.

Sakurai: "Oh, yeah, we couldn't add Rex to the base game or FP#1 because his game came too late in development."

Also Sakurai: "So this new Fire Emblem game came out a couple months ago......here's the protagonist that we started developing before the FE game was even released."

The FE favoritism was so thick you could cut it with a knife. This was compounded even further by the fact that fans were already moaning about excessive FE characters and swordfighters, so much so that Nintendo/Sakurai even referenced that in the freaking trailer!

I don't want to go too off topic, but it's bull**** that Fire Emblem already had 6 characters before Ultimate and received 2 more newcomers while Xenoblade still only has 1 rep. We deserve a 2nd Xenoblade rep whether it's Rex or Elma.

Exhibit A.

 

[Fatmanonice]

One thing I want to note about E3 history is that, while Nintendo is pretty consistent with the whole new concept character + new fan favorite + new third party icon formula, Nintendo has never presented this the exact same way... Ever.

2006- Surprise presentation in the dead of night.

2013- Fake out Animal Crossing trailer leading to Villager and Megaman. Wii Fit then being yet another fake out.

2014- Miis and Palutena being in the same presentation that morning. Pac-Man an after hours special reveal.

2015- Smash Direct... On a Sunday.

2018- Basically a Smash Direct stuffed in the E3 Direct.

2019- First time two third party characters ever revealed in the same presentation. According to Imran Khan, Hero was supposed to be dropped at the E3 Smash tournament so that would have been a first as well.

This is one of the reasons I don't think 2020 was meant to be a copy and paste of 2019 and why I still kinda entertain 3 reveals in close proximity. "OH GOD, FATMAN'S SPECULATING AGAIN! QUICK; GET THE ELEPHANT TRANQUILIZER GUN" yeah, yeah, I know but Nintendo has kind of gone out of its way to not do Smash at E3 the same way twice in 14 years and that's pretty notable.

 

[RetrogamerMax]

Shilling aside, I think that was one of the biggest reasons that Byleth's reception was so controversial.

Sakurai: "Oh, yeah, we couldn't add Rex to the base game or FP#1 because his game came too late in development."

Also Sakurai: "So this new Fire Emblem game came out a couple months ago......here's the protagonist that we started developing before the FE game was even released."

The FE favoritism was so thick you could cut it with a knife. This was compounded even further by the fact that fans were already moaning about excessive FE characters and swordfighters, so much so that Nintendo/Sakurai even referenced that in the freaking trailer!

Sakurai even acknowledged that it was Nintendo's move to put Byleth in the game to promote Three Houses. Even if Sakurai didn't want to add another Fire Emblem character, he had no choice because his higher-ups said so. Sakurai even addressed the "Too many swordsmen" thing in the community and kind of agreeing but again, saying it was Nintendo's move to put another Fire Emblem character in the game.

 

[Paraster]

1. Sakurai hasn't announced yet whether or not Fighter's Pass 2 is the last of the DLC.

Actually, he has: https://finalweapon.net/2020/02/19/...mash-bros-ultimate-dlc-after-fighters-pass-2/

 

[RetrogamerMax]

Actually, he has: https://finalweapon.net/2020/02/19/...mash-bros-ultimate-dlc-after-fighters-pass-2/

Well that doesn't mean it's over yet, it just means there are no plans at the moment. Remember, the deadline for Fighter's Pass 2 is December of 2021 so that's a long time from now. I could see them greenlit bonus characters or Fighter's Pass 3 next Summer but don't announce it until the Fall of that year like with FP2 with Terry's announcement.

 

[MattX20]

One thing I want to note about E3 history is that, while Nintendo is pretty consistent with the whole new concept character + new fan favorite + new third party icon formula, Nintendo has never presented this the exact same way... Ever.

2006- Surprise presentation in the dead of night.

2013- Fake out Animal Crossing trailer leading to Villager and Megaman. Wii Fit then being yet another fake out.

2014- Miis and Palutena being in the same presentation that morning. Pac-Man an after hours special reveal.

2015- Smash Direct... On a Sunday.

2018- Basically a Smash Direct stuffed in the E3 Direct.

2019- First time two third party characters ever revealed in the same presentation. According to Imran Khan, Hero was supposed to be dropped at the E3 Smash tournament so that would have been a first as well.

This is one of the reasons I don't think 2020 was meant to be a copy and paste of 2019 and why I still kinda entertain 3 reveals in close proximity. "OH GOD, FATMAN'S SPECULATING AGAIN! QUICK; GET THE ELEPHANT TRANQUILIZER GUN" yeah, yeah, I know but Nintendo has kind of gone out of its way to not do Smash at E3 the same way twice in 14 years and that's pretty notable.

Yep, that's pretty hard to overlook

 

[Firox]

Sakurai even acknowledged that it was Nintendo's move to put Byleth in the game to promote Three Houses. Even if Sakurai didn't want to add another Fire Emblem character, he had no choice because his higher-ups said so. Sakurai even addressed the "Too many swordsmen" thing in the community and kind of agreeing but again, saying it was Nintendo's move to put another Fire Emblem character in the game.

I get that it was Nintendo's call, I'm just paraphrasing what Sakurai said and how at face value, it sounded like he was contradicting his own reasoning for not adding Rex.

 

[AugustusB]

Ripped from the Newcomer Thread.

You forgot Nintendo Direct (in July) :3

— Kelios (@KeliosFR) July 1, 2020

Apparently this is a thing.

Bon d'après la source fiable que j'ai, pas de Nintendo Direct en Février mais en Mars (le 26 à priori) 😁

— Kelios (@KeliosFR) February 14, 2020

Guy called the March direct back in February, so maybe?

EDIT: Not sure if this guy has a track record or not, just something to mull over.

 

[Let Geno Smash]

Ripped from the Newcomer Thread.

You forgot Nintendo Direct (in July) :3

— Kelios (@KeliosFR) July 1, 2020

Apparently this is a thing.

Bon d'après la source fiable que j'ai, pas de Nintendo Direct en Février mais en Mars (le 26 à priori) 😁

— Kelios (@KeliosFR) February 14, 2020

Guy called the March direct back in February, so maybe?

EDIT: Not sure if this guy has a track record or not, just something to mull over.

We don't know who he is, i mean he get the date before Venture Beat (Who leaked both the mini direct and the indie world), i will wait. Btw: I am not if a general direct may be a thing since the Furukawa Words, i expect exclusive game showcases like the Min Min's reveal, the Pokemon Presents and Pokemon LOL Pokemon Unite

 

[AugustusB]

We don't know who he is, i mean he get the date before Venture Beat (Who leaked both the mini direct and the indie world), i will wait. Btw: I am not if a general direct may be a thing since the Furukawa Words, i expect exclusive game showcases like the Min Min's reveal, the Pokemon Presents and Pokemon LOL Pokemon Unite

Yeah the big thing is we are uncertain what to make of the whole Furukawa bit. Its unclear what to actually make of it. To me, it seems there will be a pause on Directs, but we could have a Direct finished up for July. IDK

 

[MattX20]

Another site outage? Good grief.

 

[MrJudd]

Ripped from the Newcomer Thread.

You forgot Nintendo Direct (in July) :3

— Kelios (@KeliosFR) July 1, 2020

Apparently this is a thing.

Bon d'après la source fiable que j'ai, pas de Nintendo Direct en Février mais en Mars (le 26 à priori) 😁

— Kelios (@KeliosFR) February 14, 2020

Guy called the March direct back in February, so maybe?

EDIT: Not sure if this guy has a track record or not, just something to mull over.

There's also John Harker talking about a Direct with no defined date, but...
Did I really just willed a July 14th Direct into existence with speculation?????
Nintendo, you're supposed to debunk my theories, not confirm them!

 

[AugustusB]

There's also John Harker talking about a Direct with no defined date, but...
Did I really just willed a July 14th Direct into existence with speculation?????
Nintendo, you're supposed to debunk my theories, not confirm them!

Not sure who that is, but my first thought was "From Dracula!?"

Your number is up Judd! Quick, predict something else!

 

[AdamBel731]

Shilling aside, I think that was one of the biggest reasons that Byleth's reception was so controversial.

Sakurai: "Oh, yeah, we couldn't add Rex to the base game or FP#1 because his game came too late in development."

Also Sakurai: "So this new Fire Emblem game came out a couple months ago......here's the protagonist that we started developing before the FE game was even released."

The FE favoritism was so thick you could cut it with a knife. This was compounded even further by the fact that fans were already moaning about excessive FE characters and swordfighters, so much so that Nintendo/Sakurai even referenced that in the freaking trailer!



Exhibit A.

I'm a big Xenoblade fan too so don't get what I'm about to say twisted, but to be fair, Nintendo did pick the DLC for the Fighters Pass. Sakurai is a big Xenoblade fan too I'm pretty sure, so I'm sure he would've loved to add another character from the series. Putting aside the Byleth situation, yes, Sakurai obviously has a liking for Fire Emblem. But in the interest of fairness, Sakurai does indeed like Xenoblade a whole lot (I mean Rex was gonna be a fighter in the base game as proof) and since an ARMS character was added, I could see Nintendo possibly telling Sakurai to add another Xenoblade character. The whole way Byleth was revealed was handled poorly, but I don't think Sakurai has any sort of vendetta against Xenoblade or Rex.

As an aside, it depends on how Nintendo wants to use the second pass here. See I'm of the mind that Nintendo will have more of their own characters for Vol. 2 and promote their own games. However, I think the characters will also be popular ones hopefully (such as Bandana Dee for an upcoming Kirby game, a new Xenoblade character for DE or a sequel, etc.). So technically "shill" picks, but they'll feel more earnest because they are still well liked (akin to Min Min, but maybe even more so).

 

[ctt4lfecw]

So my guess is, probably this for the final 5.

1 another Pokemon
2 2nd Xenoblade rep
3 Crash
4 something stupid like another Fire Emblem rep
5 maybe Geno?

 

[Enigma735]

In hindsight, a lot was in their favor but keep in mind that the overall public opinion heavily favored Steven Cubiverse for a Microsoft rep literally up until a few weeks before E3 2019. Again, the odds were pretty damn stacked against Banjo because of a mile of red tape but it eventually came to pass in the, er, Fighter's Pass.

Honestly, this right here is reminding me a lot about what we are going through right now. I remember back in April of last year when we were REALLY getting some heavy signs and hints that pointed to Banjo being in Smash, but it was really only Banjo supporters, like me, that really thought this stuff meant something. Everyone else online thought none of this meant anything and the Banjo detractors told us it was never gonna happen and that Steve was gonna be our Microsoft rep until obviously, things stacked up in our favor in the end.

This is the exact same case as Geno. I really think a lot of stars are aligning for Geno to happen, and yet I feel like only us Geno supporters are really talking about this stuff. Whenever I bring these points up to people online, people say "Geno will just be a Mii Outfit" or that "He will never happen because my fan-made rule says so". I felt so much satisfaction for being in the minority of people who thought the evidence in Banjo's favor meant something, and I will feel even more for thinking the evidence in Geno's favor means something, and I just can't wait for GameFAQ's and 4Chan to have a huge meltdown over it.

 

[CannonStreak]

There's also John Harker talking about a Direct with no defined date, but...
Did I really just willed a July 14th Direct into existence with speculation?????
Nintendo, you're supposed to debunk my theories, not confirm them!

Personally, if we do get a Direct this month, I think the first chance we may see it is next week. Not because of that Twitter Hotgirls thing about something being announced by Nintendo on the 6th this month, but Directs are usually held in the second week of a month, are they not?

 

[AugustusB]

Honestly, this right here is reminding me a lot about what we are going through right now. I remember back in April of last year when we were REALLY getting some heavy signs and hints that pointed to Banjo being in Smash, but it was really only Banjo supporters, like me, that really thought this stuff meant something. Everyone else online thought none of this meant anything and the Banjo detractors told us it was never gonna happen and that Steve was gonna be our Microsoft rep until obviously, things stacked up in our favor in the end.

This is the exact same case as Geno. I really think a lot of stars are aligning for Geno to happen, and yet I feel like only us Geno supporters are really talking about this stuff. Whenever I bring these points up to people online, people say "Geno will just be a Mii Outfit" or that "He will never happen because my fan-made rule says so". I felt so much satisfaction for being in the minority of people who thought the evidence in Banjo's favor meant something, and I will feel even more for thinking the evidence in Geno's favor means something, and I just can't wait for GameFAQ's and 4Chan to have a huge meltdown over it.

This is what I am seeing right now as well. I was there with you and the other Banjoroos just going "This HAS to be something!" This scenario for Geno may not be a 1:1 to what was going on with Banjo, but it feels REALLY close to it. It is going to be a crazy ride til the end. And yeah...those websites wont just have a meltdown, but a revolution!

 

[Dukefire]

Really for plans past FP2, it is too soon to call with Wave 2 barely started with Min Min alone.

 

[PatPrime]

As much as I think Min Min is a better start for a pass than Joker, it does give off the vibes of this pass possibly being mostly first party with one or two big third parties. There are plenty of choices that I would like but there are also quite a few that I wouldn't care for like a Pokemon character and a Xenoblade character (sorry). So, like with the first pass I need to see who is the second and maybe even third pick is, because I'm seeing a lot predictions for this pass that I would not be very excited about and that worries me.

 

[Droodle]

Honestly, this right here is reminding me a lot about what we are going through right now. I remember back in April of last year when we were REALLY getting some heavy signs and hints that pointed to Banjo being in Smash, but it was really only Banjo supporters, like me, that really thought this stuff meant something. Everyone else online thought none of this meant anything and the Banjo detractors told us it was never gonna happen and that Steve was gonna be our Microsoft rep until obviously, things stacked up in our favor in the end.

This is the exact same case as Geno. I really think a lot of stars are aligning for Geno to happen, and yet I feel like only us Geno supporters are really talking about this stuff. Whenever I bring these points up to people online, people say "Geno will just be a Mii Outfit" or that "He will never happen because my fan-made rule says so". I felt so much satisfaction for being in the minority of people who thought the evidence in Banjo's favor meant something, and I will feel even more for thinking the evidence in Geno's favor means something, and I just can't wait for GameFAQ's and 4Chan to have a huge meltdown over it.

A lot of people in the newcomer thread do know about the things surrounding Geno; but even then Geno's just a character that's going to be divisive no matter what. Not to mention that a lot of the things pointing towards Geno have some serious plausible deniability surrounding them (no serious leaker has actually come out and said that Geno is IN), and for every character that's "obviously in" there are a couple that "are also obviously in but just don't make it in". So for every Banjo, there's an Isaac. Not to mention Nintendo has stepped up their anti-leak game big since last year; so characters that insiders may be hearing a ton may just end up being leakbait in the long run.

Really all we can do at this point is wait and hope. That said, it's looking likely a Nintendo direct is happening this month; I was thinking next month is more likely, but I did say late July is a possibility. Just going to drop that I think it's going to be the 3rd week of July right after Paper Mario releases; most of my predictions since May seem to be pretty accurate.

 

[Deleted member]

I have one thought regarding the “Premium Deluxe” costume. I think many people are too confident with the idea especially coming with a music track. It could happen, but there is no evidence pointing Geno being an upgraded deluxe costume. There’s probably no backing from insiders as well. I really don’t see a Geno costume with a music track as well. So far, Mii costumes with music track only go for indie characters but could change. For all we know, the old costume can easily come back if Geno isn’t playable because they can simply port the costume without adding more effort selling it with the same price. It’s all just a baseless “Well, it could happen.” scenario. Is premium costume even a real term?

 

[Blankiturayman]

I have one thought regarding the “Premium Deluxe” costume. I think many people are too confident with the idea especially coming with a music track. It could happen, but there is no evidence pointing Geno being an upgraded deluxe costume. There’s probably no backing from insiders as well. I really don’t see a Geno costume with a music track as well. So far, Mii costumes with music track only go for indie characters but could change. For all we know, the old costume can easily come back if Geno isn’t playable because they can simply port the costume without adding more effort selling it with the same price. It’s all just a baseless “Well, it could happen.” scenario. Is premium costume even a real term?

Yeah, it's often mentioned, but there's no base for it other than Geno getting a costume in the previous game. Sometimes I see it mentioned as the "reasoning" for why two SMRPG tracks were copyright strike'd a while ago; but I don't see them putting in two songs with a costume.

 

[MisterMike]

WOO! 2900 PAGES!

I don't want to go too off topic, but it's bull**** that Fire Emblem already had 6 characters before Ultimate and received 2 more newcomers while Xenoblade still only has 1 rep. We deserve a 2nd Xenoblade rep whether it's Rex or Elma.

Well given that 'The "Rule" That Shall Not Be Named' is dead and gone, I'd say that Rex & Pyra are very likely this time around.

 

[MrJudd]

Not sure who that is, but my first thought was "From Dracula!?"

John Harker is the first person to talk about a Mario-focused presentation happening this year. He said there was one planned for March, but he's the only one to say that. Many insiders talked about it being in April, but VentureBeat said it was always planned for June, so we don't have a solid time for when this was supposed to happen, if the pandemic didn't strike, just that a lot of people knew of their existence. "And where there is smoke, there is fire..."

Your number is up Judd! Quick, predict something else!

In homage of Malo Mart , "I predict that Cacomallow is real!". Yes, that should do the trick!

In all seriousness, I only like to make locked in predictions when I see a reasonable amount of evidence mixed with good pointers and arguments from other people. That's why I'm predicting the Fighter Pass 2 to be like my signature. Since so many people recently talked about their predictions, I'm going to talk about mine:

- Geno is the most likely of them all because of all of the facts we've piled up + a simple fact that people don't give enough value: he's the most popular fan-favorite right now. "What?" Yeah, that's right. Geno trending on twitter wasn't a minority push, there's a lot of people interested in him coming in, including some pretty popular figures and influencers in the Smash scene (casual and competitive). Plus, he's a Mario character and quoting Sakurai about Piranha Plant (a simple enemy character): "It's pretty difficult to someone to not recognize Piranha Plant". There are character which are really popular that people want in Smash, but none of them has this joined impact that Geno has. He's this season's fan favorite pick. "But what about ______, who also is a fan-favorite?" So, here's the thing: in this slot, I'm only talking about "never-evers" that always had a sizable fan following for more than 10 years in Smash, and the love for the character is what pulled their inclusion. I only expect one "never-ever" this pass, but it's a guarantee that we'll get one. I think we will get other characters who are considered "fan-favorites", even if I don't think they fit in this category.

One example of such is...
- Crash is one that is kind of the most agreed on for people + Activision is terrible with leaks and I trust the talkings about the Crash document mentioning Smash. Plus, we get what was once the Playstation mascot fighting alongside Mario and Sonic and I think Nintendo knows the value of that.

I think Nintendo will double-dip this pass, but for a good reason...
- Rex and Pyra / A Xenoblade rep is the only other first-party I see happening for a Challenger Pack (bonus fighters are another situation: let's leave them aside for now), which, let me say something about it: Smash 4's DLC was always meant to have a promotional pick and there were only 2 possible options at that time: Elma and Corrin. They chose Corrin. Move forward to base roster: Rex misses the roster and becomes a Mii Costume, Elma is never given the chance and we only get spirits from X, not even a stage. Fast forward to Pass 1 and Byleth is chosen when Three Houses isn't even out. Fortunately, we don't have a new Fire Emblem game coming out and Challenger Packs don't repeat worlds or franchises. So, just like how ARMS was talked about by Sakurai, Rex was also another character that Sakurai wanted to add, but missed the roster. With him amending the situation from ARMS, Rex and Pyra are pretty likely in my opinion. I'm sorry for other 1st party fan-favorites, but I think they're the first in line, specially because of how Xenoblade is setting up to be Nintendo's Final Fantasy. Plus, there's one more thing...

Spoiler: Spoilers for the entire Xenoblade series

"But he's not going to be revelant in future games, since the cast is always changing"
All Xenoblade Games are connected in some shape or form, and the multiverse they're building is just starting.
Plus, after Future Connected, they showed that they can continue to explore the older cast, making so that they can all be relevant again in future games, so this isn't actually a issue anymore.

This next slot is my conflicted one: you could swap it for any popular Namco character, Dante or Phoenix Wright and I would agree with you. But, since I have to choose one character, I'm picking...
- Lyoid Irving: There's not a whole lot else to talk about him, other than the classic phrases: "He's been requested for a long, long time" "Tales is a juggernaut in Japan" "Anniversary of Tales this year", "Namco doesn't have a second rep", "His Mii Costume didn't return yet", and so on... Tales is a pretty huge franchise in Japan and in here and, as Sakurai once said: "I don't see anyone else other than Lyoid".

Of course, only one Spartan can finish this fight:
- Master Chief: Normally, I disagree with the fact that there's epic finales in the DLC cycle for any Nintendo game. However, when they extend it, it's because of the fans and these extensions always end in a very high note: one example of this is Splatoon 2, with the Chaos and Order Splatfest + all Splatfest maps on private lobbies. That's also why I think Pass 2 will end with a big thing and, while there's 3 characters that I consider to have that power (Sora, Waluigi, Master Chief), only one of them can become a full challenger pack in my opinion (If Bonus Characters are a thing, I can see them appearing as well). As for why Chief? "Microsoft's mascot" "A icon of FPS" "A pretty popular requested character anywhere you go" "Banjo is already in the game" "Microsoft and Nintendo have a good relationship" "Rumors of Halo coming to the Switch" "Reveal would cement forever Smash as the biggest gaming crossover of all time"

To end my predictions, this also goes well with Imran's first comment: With it, you don't get a third-party pack, nor do you get a first-party pack: they are divided equally, it just so happens that one 1st party belongs to a third party as well, making it, by logic, a 1st party focused pack. As always, people are overreacting as always with Smash Speculation without thinking about it carefully... The second was a Min Min tease, so I'm not counting it until he talks about it once more.

Personally, if we do get a Direct this month, I think the first chance we may see it is next week. Not because of that Twitter Hotgirls thing about something being announced by Nintendo on the 6th this month, but Directs are usually held in the second week of a month, are they not?

That's a good point and July 6th may also be a possibility, but I don't think this will happen like this: The June Nintendo Direct is the most important of the year for Nintendo (even though they've had September Directs that were better, in my opinion), because it talks about games from the entire fiscal year, with a good focus on Holiday. That's also why I don't think this will be another shadowdrop: because I don't think it will follow the usual announcement one day, release in the other. We will know about it before hand. People are talking how Microsoft may have something on the week of 20th, but they didn't announce anything yet on specific dates and I only expect them to announce close to the event (a week before). I think the same is being done by Nintendo, and I think rumblings about this Direct will pick up this week.
Plus, something really important to note about this twitter account: it knows a lot of things related to big news of 1st party games on Nintendo's social media (Twitter and Youtube), but doesn't know what they are. That's when struck me: "If it's July 6th/7th, why would Nintendo announce a game on July 14th, if they just had a showcase?" This is why I think is a "E3" thing: because it's fits the interval, both the announcement and the transmission would be days of huge news, because "no one expected".

 

[Fatmanonice]

I have one thought regarding the “Premium Deluxe” costume. I think many people are too confident with the idea especially coming with a music track. It could happen, but there is no evidence pointing Geno being an upgraded deluxe costume. There’s probably no backing from insiders as well. I really don’t see a Geno costume with a music track as well. So far, Mii costumes with music track only go for indie characters but could change. For all we know, the old costume can easily come back if Geno isn’t playable because they can simply port the costume without adding more effort selling it with the same price. It’s all just a baseless “Well, it could happen.” scenario. Is premium costume even a real term?

If this idea had literally any sort of grounding, they would have done it with Heihachi but they didn't. It's just people trying to bargain Geno to not be a fully playable character for some weird reason.

 

[SSGuy]

How many Banjo-Kazooie songs were CC Struck when they took down Megalovania? Was it more than one?

I think the other thing that makes me even more curious is regarding the C&D on Legacy XP. Songs are one thing, but when you shut down songs and the only way I could possibly experience Geno being playable in a Smash Bros title, it starts becoming a little more suspicious.

But you know the golden rule of being a Geno fan is treat everything as just a coincidence and nothing more. For all we know, Metal Sonic could be coming.

 

[AugustusB]

How many Banjo-Kazooie songs were CC Struck when they took down Megalovania? Was it more than one?

I think the other thing that makes me even more curious is regarding the C&D on Legacy XP. Songs are one thing, but when you shut down songs and the only way I could possibly experience Geno being playable in a Smash Bros title, it starts becoming a little more suspicious.

But you know the golden rule of being a Geno fan is treat everything as just a coincidence and nothing more. For all we know, Metal Sonic could be coming.

It was only one fan track I believe, because I listened to that track constantly and I noticed it was gone. "The Final Battle" with the words Smash Ultimate tagged to it.

Legacy XP being taken down is probably the BIGGEST red flag out there. No matter how you look at it.

 

[EarlTamm]

Hey, what do you guys think of the Geno sprite below being what they use for his fighter spirit?

Was initially gonna paint my fighter pass picks, but I've decided to do something different since I'm busy: what a potential fighter spirit would look like them. (I couldn't decide on the last one...)

If you want to try this idea as well go ahead! Just don't make it a reply. pic.twitter.com/AFaCww6Gfi

— Sean Hicks (@SeanHicksART) July 1, 2020