Should've mentioned that this is the difference between a first title's release date and the finalization of a roster, so 2 years for Xenoblade.
Had to double check: Pokemon was actually about 2-3 years old, but we really shouldn't be comparing Xenoblade to a cultural phenomenon. Next youngest was Pikmin at 4 years, then Star Fox at 5, Kirby at 6. At the very least, these games all had sequels and had more going for them than "strong critical reception."
Not saying this is a hard rule Sakurai definitely follows, but that's one hell of a trend. It's even stronger than the in-house trend you keep bringing up as a point against other series, and as a bonus, it mostly applies to the existing series newcomers as well.
I wouldn't call it a trend at all. Of all the series in Smash, over half were before 1990 with 6 more coming before 1996. The only series that came after 1996 were Pokemon and Pikmin. This is really the first time we have come to a young series maybe getting into Smash. And as you said, Pokemon tread the same line. Given, I guess you could say Pikmin.
I don't think it's Sakurai choosing time tested series but most of Nintendo's series are old.
I think its safe to say that all of the lords are going to be DLC for FE13. In a way all of the lords are now relevant.
You know, as time has been going on and I've been thinking about characters and that jazz, I'm really starting to think they'll add another FE character, Sakurai is a fanboy and people love FE characters so it makes sense. But here we have FE13 and it decides it wants to put every lord in ever. I was think "Hey, maybe Leaf. He looks cool and can use all the weapons." But NOPE, now we have Micaiah and some green hair chick (who is she. No, I'm serious, who is that suppose to be?). Basically, every lord is fair game. To think, everyone will still say Krom.
But, really, who is the green haired chick?
