But they DO care. People forget how long it took for Ridley, K.Rool and Banjo to get into Smash. Just because YOU want something and those who produce what you want ALSO want that something doesn't mean that it will be the very next thing that happens. Game development takes time, and the pandemic ruined everyone's schedule, so just keep making your support known and keep your eyes open.
However, Geno Bros, we are in a weird situation here. The first two times Sakurai hinted at this being the last of the DLC. it was still pretty vague and could be interpreted as many other things, but this last Famitsu Column is a really big blow to the idea of more DLC. It's STILL not impossible, but there are some things to address with this statement.
First, this is seemingly the first time Sakurai has insisted so many times that this was the end of development, not for any other game and not even for Ultimate up until Pass 2. It's odd that he would be insisting the end this much, especially publicly like this. Should we read more into this, or is this just Sakurai politely warning his fans since he knows we are hoping for more?
Secondly, this statement of Sakurai's isn't vague in the slightest. This isn't a pre-Steve situation like with his Min Min famitsu column, and this isn't like Pyra/Mythra's presentation where the statement is vague enough to take it to mean other things: this is flat out 'these last two characters are the end' with no other way to interpret it, which is pretty damning.
Lastly, let's look at the timing of this: we only have two characters left in this pass and odds are they are both 90-100% done regardless of whether you believe in any swaps or anything. There is a VERY high chance both will be announced this E3, so basically at this point if there was more DLC they would already be working on it and it would likely be announced in some form very soon. Sakurai could have said nothing and just let it go until the end of 11's presentation, but instead he made a point to bring it up NOW before E3. In addition to that, he mentioned it in a famitsu that could have gone entirely without mentioning Smash at all if he desired, and yet he made a point to double-down in that column and make sure we know that this is the end for Ultimate's DLC.
All of this suggests that Sakurai is trying to do fans a solid of some sort and make sure we all understand that these last two are INDEED the last two, something I don't quite understand why he's doing that, but I'm sure some fans appreciate this for one reason or another. However, this heavily conflicts with information we've heard for multiple characters, too many to think that two more slots will be enough to match up with what we've heard, and some of this info is incredibly damning.
So, the way I see it, we have a few situations we could be in here, and I'll list them from what I personally think is least likely to most likely, starting with least likely.
- Sakurai is telling us the big fibberino, in the attempt to bring us 'back-down-to-earth' and not expecting anything more so that when it does happen we will explode all over again. I honestly see this as the least likely outcome. Sakurai may have gone back on his word before, but I can't recall a time he outright lied to us, especially in such a scenario like this. In this situation, it makes sense to only bring it up once and never mention it again no matter how far into development unless asked via interview, but going out of your way to mention it freely on multiple occasions just to setup an elaborate lie for fan excitement? Not only does that seem very unlike Sakurai, but Smash is a huge deal so it's incredibly unnecessary.
- Smash DLC will continue, but Sakurai will not be leading the charge. This scenario is one in which Sakurai takes a back seat from his position and Nintendo puts someone else in charge, thus continuing the DLC but without Sakurai at the helm of it. While Sakurai's column was very much about retirement and reflecting on his age, if anything his column gives off a 'I'm not done yet!' vibe, and I'm not sure Nintendo would want to replace Sakurai considering the impact that would have on the community as well as how well the DLC has been and how skilled Sakurai is at his job. I do see this as a more likely scenario than Sakurai outright lying to us though, as Nintendo may want to capitalize on more DLC money while Sakurai would rather not and Nintendo does be Nintendo and make weird decisions sometimes.
- I think these two are about as equally likely, so I'll list them as such. Please make no misunderstanding here between what I think will happen and what I want to happen, thank you.
- This really is the end of Ultimate's updates after CP 10 and 11, not even a bonus or anything, maybe some spirit events or something and then the doors close on this fantastic, world-shaking edition of Masahiro Sakurai's Wild Ride. For whatever reason, either all of what we've heard or most of it (meaning either none of the characters we've heard are in or only two of them are) is just wrong, whether it be leak bait or being compromised, negotiations fell out or the character was left on the cutting room floor because it just couldn't be done for one reason or another.
Does this make sense according to our info? No, it doesn't. Does this make sense according to business sense? Not at all, but both Kimishima and Furakawa have allegedly been on record stating that they think if DLC goes too big people will not want to buy the base game knowing they have to spend so much money past that to have the game feel 'complete', despite how DLC is meant to appeal to the core audience who has already bought the game and not new players and yet still makes way more many the game sales. This means that they value some sort of balance being struck between those who have already purchased the game and those who haven't, despite how many copies of the game Steve sold and how outside of Steve, it's unlikely that the base game will sell too much drastically more as it's very clear that it's already reached critical mass. So on one hand, Furakawa sees all the money made from DLC, but on the other hand he doesn't want the DLC to become so overwhelming that it discourages new buyers into thinking they HAVE to spend another $50 on top of the $60 and thus they choose another game instead.
- This is the end for Ultimate, but not the end of Smash on the Switch. Geno Bros, I give you something I've mentioned before, which is the idea of a Smash Ultimate Deluxe. Capcom has been doing this with Street Fighter before DLC was even a possibility, but the most recent examples are with SF4 and SFV: both of these games have lots of DLC, but there are also multiple versions of the game you can buy that come with certain amounts of DLC in that base package. This is a very good way of making the game and all of it's extensive DLC content and updates accessible to someone who just decided to pick up the game now while not screwing over your previous consumers: both people have the same game, it's just all in one package for someone who got in there late...well, and there is a good chance they paid a good share less than the person who bought the DLC new and the base game, but you got to appeal to new customers somehow. NetherRealm Studios has been doing this since I believe the first Injustice if not since the MK9. I would be okay if this was the route taken, but unfortunately I think it will go something more like this...
Marvel vs Capcom 3 was a very long-awaited sequel to the classic Marvel vs Capcom 2, eleven or so years in the making. It released in February of 2011...and Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 released in November of the same year. I think you can already get an idea of the issues here, but I'll dive deeper for those of you who don't know.
So Capcom, whether it was due to stupidity or because of Marvel/Disney being a pain, made the decision to release UMvC3 as a stand-alone game and not give any DLC updates to OG MvC3. Upon release, the essentially killed the community for OG MvC3 and forced you to spend another $60+ on a brand new game to keep playing. Sure, it had a lot of updates and characters people really wanted (including myself with Ghost Rider) but it was still forcing people who already paid for their game to buy it again to keep playing without giving an option to do an online update, perhaps at even a lower cost. I remember there being a fair share of upset fans much like I was and talking with them and there were talks of a boycott (although I cannot say it would have gotten anywhere and clearly the game did well so...yeah) but then all the new characters leaked and that was pretty much all she wrote as most of them were someone somebody wanted.
I see a future where we get something Ultimate Deluxe, which has all the previous DLC, and new/returning modes and ever more fun stuff as well as 6-8 new characters...but it's exclusive to the Switch Pro and you have to pay $60 for the new game, screwing over all of the fans who already bought the previous game and all of it's DLC.
At this point, it's a lesser of two evils situation, as far as I'm concerned: either it wholly ends here in the coming months, or we get more but at the cost of healthy consumerism practice.
I guess I'm just a fool to believe people and not assume everything's a lie. I just don't get why you're presenting so many alternatives.
She screamed so much joy when I show her the trailer the next day to the point that I was afraid the neighbors would wonder what the heck was going on.... so you could call his inclusion a double-edged sword for me if you know what I mean. She got disappointed when they showed the Geno trailer even though she don't care on a "personal level" about SMRPG so it wasn´t a "ha-ha my got in but not yours" from her