It's finally time Genolads. This morning, as I went to do some errand, I began to think on the meaning that The Game Awards have garnered up to this moment, and what Super Smash Bros. Ultimate represents. Both are, as stated by their creators themselves, a celebration of gaming. One is an event that recognizes the outstanding achievements of video games across various genres, as well as parts of their development, while the other is what has come to be known as the Hall of Fame of video game icons, bringing together countless worlds seamlessly into one epic brawl. That thought right there reassured me that for this year's TGA, the likelihood of a Smash reveal was near certain; what better moment than when we celebrate video games? Thus, as I returned home, went onto check the Internet and open up Smashboards, the first featured article I see is that of an official confirmation that in fact there will be a Smash reveal at this year's TGA. I'm sure a few here felt that air of righteous vindication upon learning of these great news. I know I did.
Now then, who could it be? Well, being The Game Awards, there are a few points that kind of pull towards the favor of some characters whom we've heard and read about quite a number of times.
- Crash Bandicoot = Geoff Keighley seems to be a big fan of the beloved marsupial, and Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time was officially revealed through the Summer Games Fest platform which Keighley kicked off earlier this year. In addition to that, Crash had some notable presence during TGA 2018, when Joker was revealed as CP 1, and it was no less the night before Ultimate's release. Oh and, Geoff's most recent reply to the confirmation of a Smash reveal later tonight being a humble "Whoa" does seem pretty "on the nose".
- Doom Guy = DOOM Eternal has been nominated to quite a few categories on this night's TGA, including Game of the Year. Ever since the dual release of Animal Crossing: New Horizons, and DOOM Eternal back in March, the Isabelle x Doom Guy meme of them being best of pals picked up steam and funny enough, it's amazing how natural and accepting such a meme is. The CacoMallow leak still hasn't been disproven so that's still up in the air. Coincidentally, today is DOOM's 27th Anniversary; an odd number but an anniversary still.
- Geno = Ok, many might think that TGA seems like an unlikely venue to reveal a character such as Geno, yet I digress. Following TGA, we got some Mario-themed tournaments going on with (a) The Mushroom event in-game tournament starting Friday and wrapping up on Sunday, and (b) the Super Mario-themed VS Challenge Cup Smash tournament on Saturday. Though, if the character is revealed today, one would expect it would become available in say... two more weeks approximately. Well, what if Nintendo/Sakurai pull off a mad-lad move and in addition to announcing the character tonight, it releases tonight as well? I know; chances of that happening are pushing it too far but hey, it could be a possibility. Now, how does Geno fit in in all this? Albeit he is considered an obscure character that only appeared in one game from the late SNES era, he is a symbol of one of the first solid collaborations in gaming history if one could say. A game created from the collaboration between Nintendo and Square Enix which ushered two other Mario RPG spinoff franchises. Though the collaboration came to a halt back then amidst the console generation transition, both companies came together again to continue creating great games. With the support Square Enix has been showing for the Nintendo Switch, it would seem that amidst Squares projects, there may be one that has been kept secret to this very day. However this is all speculation but, let us recall E3 2019. The Smash fighters revealed were Hero (a Square Enix character), and Banjo & Kazooie (a Microsoft/Rare character). Entertaining the idea that has been discussed on this thread before of Steve (a Microsoft character) having been one of two potential E3 2020 reveals, then the other could perhaps be another Square Enix character. Combining that with the upcoming tournaments, the chances seem to weigh-in on Geno's favor. Again, this is mostly speculation, but let's hope it pans out.