I actually would not put it past Sakurai for a fakeout. Or that he asked them to retweet just because he knew where it would lead, just to throw us off.
If he knew (he clearly did) how many people over here wanted Chrom enough to tell them how much better Robin was in the trailer, I guarantee he knows (and Monolith likely knows) how many people want Shulk.
He likes the series, it's so far completely absent, Monolith is important to Nintendo (and it'd be kind of a slap in the face to ignore their character, who they obviously want in the game.) Shulk =/= Chrom, so yeah.
The planets are still aligning, I just hope it pans out!
I don't buy the notion that the trailer was switched. Captain Falcon in a Fire Emblem trailer? Why?
Well, for one, F-Zero X anniversary was on the same day. For two, the 15th and 16th are both Fire Emblem anniversaries, namely for the release of Monsho no Nazo on DS, Virtual Console release of Thracia 776, and the 16th is the anniversary of Blazing Sword's release in Europe (if you count the European release, at least the other two are Japanese).
So no, the stars align too much for it to be a mere coincidence. Now, it is possible Sakurai asked them to retweet it to make people believe it was Shulk, but there's no way the trailer being FE featuring Captain Falcon was simply switched in at the last second.
The Gematsu leak is the strangest leak I've ever seen. It's right on the most unlikely stuff yet wrong on the most likely. It got 8 characters right, the Mii fighter name right and two more characters that seem likely and yet it missed Rosalina, got dates wrong and now Chrom is deconfirmed. It's hard to come to a proper conclusion that it's making my head hurt.
It got SEVEN characters right, and most people expected Palutena anyway, especially after the original Palutena leak (later proven fake, but it really helped her support). I hate how people keep tacking on a point for "Pokemon from X/Y". Anyone could say Pokemon from X/Y, and many people were suggesting a Pokemon from X/Y could be in the game.
So no, I only count the first leak as being fully accurate. Now, he did get lucky on Rhythm Heaven, so its possible the second leak had some outdated info, but he could've just as easily made it up based on speculation and looking up sales numbers for new franchises. Based on the reveals, I highly doubt Chrom was ever planned to be playable after the roster was finalized, and the roster was finalized before development began. The only other possibility is the leaker heard "main character from Awakening" and assumed Chrom, but it makes things even worse, because it means it was second-hand information (although frankly, I think he'd have known the actual name, which just makes me believe the guy made up the second leak).
I think the leaker must've had his info right on at least Shulk and a Rhythm Heaven character. They probably stopped telling people things at a certain point though, and maybe he heard about an Awakening rep and thought it was Chrom, and then tried to play off that he knew more.
I'm still perplexed by Mii Fighter. Maybe he had E3 info, which explains all that. It's ALL SO WEIRD.
Whatever, Shulk's chances are high without it, and so far those of a RH character. It just means Ridley and others can breathe easier again.
I'm so tired of the word "Gematsu" now. Thank you based Robin.
I doubt it. I think he may have looked up the sales numbers and figured out that Rhythm Heaven was popular and could possibly be a new franchise rep, and he just picked the most obscure character on the list. I do believe the first leak was fake, but the second is extremely iffy.
