Official Newcomer/DLC Speculation Discussion

[TheCJBrine]

People just pretend PapaGenos is significantly better and has NEVER clickbaited because he's just so goshdarn nice I guess so yeah

While he does sometimes try to garner interest for his videos and covers some silly theories (which imo isn’t really a problem and the former is a thing every successful YouTuber would do), he tries to not lean one way or the other and he never uses big clickbait like LaxChris and Blocked Content do, whom also cover a bunch of random 4chan leaks or users’ posts without even getting their facts straight and actually stretch out their videos long enough to get a bunch of ad revenue (at least, LaxChris does this). Heck, Blocked Content keeps talking about a Piranha Plant plush giveaway and I don’t even know if he actually gives it out; maybe he has more, idk, I don’t follow him anymore.

Also his intro and outro are annoying as hell.

I take it you don’t like BtFM.

 

[Kold Pizza]

Each day we get closer to the game awards, I’m excited to see what could possibly happen.

 

[Al-kīmiyā']

I can tell that this game will be exceptional. Idc how, get this song in Smash!

Hack your game.

Here's a little game: if every company currently in Ultimate had 5 unique reps from different franchises, what characters would you give them?

Konami: Snake, Simon, Bill Rizer, Frogger, Shiori Fujisaki
Sega: Sonic, Bayonetta, Joker, Kiryu, Axel Stone
Capcom: Mega Man, Ryu, Leon S. Kennedy, Monster Hunter, Phoenix Wright
Bandai-Namco: Pac-Man, Heihaichi, Lloyd Irving, Sophitia, KOS-MOS
Square-Enix: Cloud, Hero, Geno, Sora, Lara Croft
Microsoft: Banjo, Steve, Master Chief, Rash, Joanna Dark
SNK: Terry (as a Fatal Fury rep), Kyo Kusanagi (as a KoF rep), Nakoruru, Marco Rossi, Jeanne D'Arc

Just gonna list my most wanted from these companies.
Konami:
Sega:
Capcom: Takenaka Hanbei (really only need one of Rondoline or him)
Bandai-Namco: Rondoline, Yoshimitsu
Square-Enix: Neku
Microsoft:
SNK: Goenitz/Goeniko

Kinda depressing to see how far Star Fox has fallen. It got two Gamecube games and DS game before Brawl and then after Command, things slammed to a halt. Since then it got a 3DS remake, a botched WiiU remakemaginingboot, a reskinned tech demo and the reason that the Switch version of Starlink did the best. (you'd think between that and Soul Calibur 2 more companies would try to get Nintendo cameo going.)

I mean, that's what they get for refusing to give fans the game they want. I'd still buy a Star Fox game if it had online PvP that didn't suck.

 

[Night Gale]

When fighter number five and or six is announced, we can pinpoint the date they will release if they have a game on a Nintendo console. I did not join smashboards yet but I accurately predicated the date that Hero and Terry were available for download. Dates have meaning. Luminary released 1 day before his 3DS anniversary; Terry released 1 day before the anniversary of SNK Heroines. The exception are characters with upcoming Switch announcements and Banjo-Kazooie, for obvious reasons.

For example, let's pretend that KOS-MOS was announced in December. She would drop February 27th, which would align with Xenosaga's anniversary. Out of any theory, focusing on significant game release dates makes sense since this is how several characters were revealed and promoted during Smash 4's prerelease.

 

[SpectreJordan]

I've seen people claim that Gordon Freeman would get a mixed reaction and "literally who"s. For real? Freaking Half-Life? At this point Half-Life is one of the series that just permeates gaming as a whole, especially with the HL3 meme.

I know it's old, but give people some credit. I think they can still recognize a legend.

I pretty much expected that leak to be fake. Freeman still has a decent shot even without it though. Half-Life is a franchise that represents Valve and Steam, which makes it a representation of PC gaming as a whole. If Nintendo ever wanted to pick a character that appeals to the PC crowd then Gordon is their frontrunner in that regard.

Also I seriously hope none of you are thinking of using the "literal who" argument on Gordon mother****ing Freeman of all characters. Erdrick I can get since his popularity is mostly contained in Japan. But if you're living in the West and you're telling me you've never heard of Half-Life ever in your life then I'm calling bull**** on that.

Over the past couple months I’ve come to the realization that A LOT of Smash fans don’t play other games. If they play something besides Smash it’s just other Nintendo games. This creates this weird bubble where they barely know about gaming outside of Nintendo.

 

[Evil Trapezium]

When fighter number five and or six is announced, we can pinpoint the date they will release if they have a game on a Nintendo console. I did not join smashboards yet but I accurately predicated the date that Hero and Terry were available for download. Dates have meaning. Luminary released 1 day before his 3DS anniversary; Terry released 1 day before the anniversary of SNK Heroines. The exception are characters with upcoming Switch announcements and Banjo-Kazooie, for obvious reasons.

For example, let's pretend that KOS-MOS was announced in December. She would drop February 27th, which would align with Xenosaga's anniversary. Out of any theory, focusing on significant game release dates makes sense since this is how several characters were revealed and promoted during Smash 4's prerelease.

Right so Banjo & Kazooie released in September 4th which was 1 day before the anniversary of... so I'd say that is pretty solid theory you got there.

 

[GoodGrief741]

When fighter number five and or six is announced, we can pinpoint the date they will release if they have a game on a Nintendo console. I did not join smashboards yet but I accurately predicated the date that Hero and Terry were available for download. Dates have meaning. Luminary released 1 day before his 3DS anniversary; Terry released 1 day before the anniversary of SNK Heroines. The exception are characters with upcoming Switch announcements and Banjo-Kazooie, for obvious reasons.

For example, let's pretend that KOS-MOS was announced in December. She would drop February 27th, which would align with Xenosaga's anniversary. Out of any theory, focusing on significant game release dates makes sense since this is how several characters were revealed and promoted during Smash 4's prerelease.

I assure you that doesn't matter at all.

 

[Night Gale]

Right so Banjo & Kazooie released in September 4th which was 1 day before their... so I'd say that is pretty solid theory you got there.

Hey, it's the month they left Nintendo!

Though dropping a competitor's character on the same day as a big Nintendo Direct was a ballsy move.

I assure you that doesn't matter at all.

I think it does, depending on the character. If it's a Sony rep, it won't matter. If not, we can see how it'll play out again.

 

[3BitSaurus]

When fighter number five and or six is announced, we can pinpoint the date they will release if they have a game on a Nintendo console. I did not join smashboards yet but I accurately predicated the date that Hero and Terry were available for download. Dates have meaning. Luminary released 1 day before his 3DS anniversary; Terry released 1 day before the anniversary of SNK Heroines. The exception are characters with upcoming Switch announcements and Banjo-Kazooie, for obvious reasons.

For example, let's pretend that KOS-MOS was announced in December. She would drop February 27th, which would align with Xenosaga's anniversary. Out of any theory, focusing on significant game release dates makes sense since this is how several characters were revealed and promoted during Smash 4's prerelease.

Hmm, interesting. Rapidly checking other dates and games...

• Leon Kennedy - January 11th for the RE2make and ALSO RE4.
• Bill Ryzer - February 21st for Contra.
• Chosen Undead - February 5th for Demon Souls' original launch date.
• Dinasty Warriors rep - February 28th for the release of the first game
• Professor Layton - February 15th for the release of Curious Village

Keep in mind, I mostly took dates from January or February because we're probably getting CP5 somewhere between these two months, with the next Amiibo wave and the set date for the end of the FP.

Regardless of how much water this holds... no skin off my back for speculating.

 

[MooMew64]

Over the past couple months I’ve come to the realization that A LOT of Smash fans don’t play other games. If they play something besides Smash it’s just other Nintendo games. This creates this weird bubble where they barely know about gaming outside of Nintendo.

I'd honestly be surprised if people didn't know Half-Life, though. Like, I may be one of those people that doesn't play much outside of Nintendo, but I still know what Half-Life is. I feel like the only way you wouldn't know is if you straight up just don't follow anything gaming related.

 

[Night Gale]

I learned about Half-Life from a preview on my mom's Rush Hour VHS tape. It scared the ever living f*** out of toddler me but it looked amazing.

 

[TheAJJohnson]

While he does sometimes try to garner interest for his videos and covers some silly theories (which imo isn’t really a problem and the former is a thing every successful YouTuber would do), he tries to not lean one way or the other and he never uses big clickbait like LaxChris and Blocked Content do, whom also cover a bunch of random 4chan leaks or users’ posts without even getting their facts straight and actually stretch out their videos long enough to get a bunch of ad revenue (at least, LaxChris does this). Heck, Blocked Content keeps talking about a Piranha Plant plush giveaway and I don’t even know if he actually gives it out; maybe he has more, idk, I don’t follow him anymore.



I take it you don’t like BtFM.

PapaGeno is the only one that is never hard to watch. And since he isn't crapping out a video every day or two, I am excited to listen to what he has to say. He generally tries to approach things with a degree of skepticism, but he also gets excited sometimes, which makes his videos exciting. He also doesn't have some generic game footage overlay, so that's a plus.

Blocked Content isn't hard to listen to, but I never take what he says very seriously. Sometimes he produces some interesting videos, but does sometimes run with things too quickly. I'm not sure what the first minute and a half of any video looks like because I skip it and I've never made it all the way to the end of a video.

LaxChris though is needles on a chalkboard personified. I can't stand his voice ("So guys..."), his content is always garbage (and usually days or sometimes weeks late), and his video editing is subpar at best. However, I do sometimes skip to the part in the video to read the awful 4Chan leaks just to pass the time (saves me from having to swim in that cesspool of a site). I hope that doesn't give him a view...

I miss Billybo10K...he wasn't bad.

 

[Rie Sonomura]

I personally wish Blocked Content woulda just stuck to fan made Snake Codecs tbh

also what does this thread think of Arlo or Aaronitmar?

 

[TheCJBrine]

I really don’t get how people get so hateful about series they haven’t played or don’t like in Smash, or even certain characters they don’t like; I mean, it’s just fine to dislike it or feel disappointed it wasn’t your favorite character/it doesn’t fit your taste, but what some people say/do is frankly absurd imo.

 

[XorahnGaia]

When fighter number five and or six is announced, we can pinpoint the date they will release if they have a game on a Nintendo console. I did not join smashboards yet but I accurately predicated the date that Hero and Terry were available for download. Dates have meaning. Luminary released 1 day before his 3DS anniversary; Terry released 1 day before the anniversary of SNK Heroines. The exception are characters with upcoming Switch announcements and Banjo-Kazooie, for obvious reasons.

For example, let's pretend that KOS-MOS was announced in December. She would drop February 27th, which would align with Xenosaga's anniversary. Out of any theory, focusing on significant game release dates makes sense since this is how several characters were revealed and promoted during Smash 4's prerelease.

Hey, it's the month they left Nintendo!

Though dropping a competitor's character on the same day as a big Nintendo Direct was a ballsy move.



I think it does, depending on the character. If it's a Sony rep, it won't matter. If not, we can see how it'll play out again.

Ngl, not only all these example feel like stretches, but I fail to see the point in releasing a character near an esoteric anniversary that casual fans would not even be aware of. It's not like Nintendo tweeted something like "One year ago, SNK Heroines was released on the Switch!" when Terry came out. In fact they say anything about that game in the time between the September Direct and the November Sakurai presentation (which it's also the reason the reason why I don't get why people think "Terry is in Smash to advertise SNK Heroines" btw)

I feel like character will come out simply when they're ready and when they don't interfere with any major Nintendo game. Maybe you can make an argument that they are always released in proximity to the next Amiibo wave (which doesn't even pinpoint the exact week of release).

 

[-crump-]

also what does this thread think of Arlo or Aaronitmar?

I’ve been watching Arlo’s videos ever since the Paper Mario Color Splash reveal. I like the guy; I don’t always agree with his views, and he can be melodramatic or borderline obnoxious about things, but the videos are still a good way to kill ten minutes or so. He seems like he puts a lot of work into the script and his editor is great.

Can’t really speak for the other guy, I watched one video of his and it just seemed like he was reading Smashwiki.

 

[RileyXY1]

So, did that Gordon Freeman leak get proven fake?

 

[SpectreJordan]

I'd honestly be surprised if people didn't know Half-Life, though. Like, I may be one of those people that doesn't play much outside of Nintendo, but I still know what Half-Life is. I feel like the only way you wouldn't know is if you straight up just don't follow anything gaming related.

I think there’s also a bit of anger towards a character they don’t want possibly getting in, so they act like the character isn’t a big deal. This happened with Terry/SNK.

 

[andree123]

So, did that Gordon Freeman leak get proven fake?

Yeah, its pretty much fake.

 

[RileyXY1]

Now that's over. We can now go back to mindless speculating.

 

[SMAASH! Puppy]

I'd honestly be surprised if people didn't know Half-Life, though. Like, I may be one of those people that doesn't play much outside of Nintendo, but I still know what Half-Life is. I feel like the only way you wouldn't know is if you straight up just don't follow anything gaming related.

My perception of the series is that it's incredibly niche. Not sure if that's the reality but from what I've seen it seems to be the case.

Portal, on the other hand, is something most people will recognize.

also what does this thread think of Arlo or Aaronitmar?

Arlo's great. His content is enjoying to watch and the puppet adds a very unique aspect to the channel that you can't get anywhere else.

Aaronitmar's pallet swap and alternate costume videos are cool, but I couldn't care less about the rest of his stuff.

Now that's over. We can now go back to searching for the next character to fixate on for the next few weeks.

Fixed.

 

[SNEKeater]

The #1 thing you should know about Smash is that the roster choices are always unpredictable. We even hit a point where we have serious discussions on characters like Gordon Freeman, Reimu, Kazuma Kiryu, and even Saber that pop up and people with legitimate support on them.

Because while everyone expects Doom guy or Resident Evil, knowing Sakurai he can throw us a big curve ball that we didn't expect and it'd somehow work for Smash. That's what I love here. Or he can give us an RE character alongside someone more niche to balance things out, too.

Well, now we're 'predicting' Doomslayer or a Resident Evil character, that doesn't mean that these choices were expected a year ago, when Sakurai and Nintendo decided the characters for the fighter pass.
I mean imagine if instead of the 3000 4chan leaks talking about Doomslayer we'd had leaks saying Terry is in, a few months ago. In the end Terry would be so prominent in speculation that his announcement wouldn't be that surprising because he already felt like a likely choice. We can apply this to Doomslayer or Jill/Leon.

Maybe Sakurai picked Doomguy as FP5 thinking that his announcement would be totally unexpected, then he found out that all the internet is talking about Doom for Smash because 4chan lmao.

 

[RileyXY1]

I knew that the Gordon Freeman leak was fake from the moment it was posted.

 

[EricTheGamerman]

Can I just say, once again, that the Terry DLC is incredible? For a character I cared negatively about when we knew it had to be him, he has genuinely become one of my favorite characters on the entire roster, has gotten me actually interested in SNK fighting game content, comes with one of the most unique and interesting stages in the game thus far, and just comes with such an incredible and diverse selection of music.

I mean, I know that Smash Ultimate has stepped up the DLC in every conceivable way since Smash 4, but this is a whole other level and it feels genuinely like the closest I've seen Smash get to a genuine "expansion pack" in many ways (and I would have said the same to all of the Challenger Packs thus far haha). It's just really awesome to see and super fun to play with.

 

[yeet123]

Rn Banjo-Kazooie and Donkey Kong are my mains (I can crush w them in Elite Smash), and I got Sonic in my back pocket (Im always right below or right above Elite Smash).

Honestly, I feel that the missing piece to accompany my two Rareware mains is Dixie Kong. I'm really hoping that post-fighters pass DLC is first/second party.

 

[Sysreq]

I know the Resident Evil conversation has died down, but I just wanted to bring up a potential situation that could happen at the Game Awards. So the inevitable R3Make actually hasn't been formally announced yet. And, obviously, with RE2Make being critically acclaimed and being nominated for Game of the Year, it'd be a perfect place to announce it. Secondly, it turns out Capcom is actually looking to release this remake for 2020. It's mentioned in the first half of this video.

I could easily see Capcom making the announcement for R3Make and having it immediately followed by an announcement for Jill for Smash. It'd be the perfect segue. It would also fit how Joker and Hero were released before P5 Royal and DQXIS if R3Make is to be released in 2020 and Jill is released in Jan 2020.

Not saying it's guaranteed, but I think it would work out pretty nicely.

 

[SKX31]

Can I just say, once again, that the Terry DLC is incredible? For a character I cared negatively about when we knew it had to be him, he has genuinely become one of my favorite characters on the entire roster, has gotten me actually interested in SNK fighting game content, comes with one of the most unique and interesting stages in the game thus far, and just comes with such an incredible and diverse selection of music.

I mean, I know that Smash Ultimate has stepped up the DLC in every conceivable way since Smash 4, but this is a whole other level and it feels genuinely like the closest I've seen Smash get to a genuine "expansion pack" in many ways (and I would have said the same to all of the Challenger Packs thus far haha). It's just really awesome to see and super fun to play with.

Fully agree with you there. I may have my suspicions that SNK's Chinese owners or even Tencent may have helped SNK / Sakurai out with any business related deals or costs behind the scenes to achieve it all*, but I'm certainly not complaining about the results.

If this is indeed true, and holds, I could see anything Tencent-connected get similar treatment (whether Tencent owns parts of it or not - SNK's fully independent from Tencent, the latter publishes SNK's mobile games).

*(50 songs and 20 cameos remember. It's more songs than the three others combined and more cameos than Joker and B-K combined. One could say more cameos than all three if one discounts Spirits, since Luminary's companions appear as one Spirit. Also strenghens my guesses that Terry or even FP might be bundled into the Chinese Smash release - especially since I have no doubts Terry will be in ads there.)

 

[SvartWolf]

I'd honestly be surprised if people didn't know Half-Life, though. Like, I may be one of those people that doesn't play much outside of Nintendo, but I still know what Half-Life is. I feel like the only way you wouldn't know is if you straight up just don't follow anything gaming related.

I mean.. im 100% sure that more people know about Half Life the videogame than Half Life the scientific concept.

 

[JustMyself13]

I think I might be alone on this, but I think Pac-Man is the only rep Namco really needs. To me at least, characters like Lloyd and Heihachi don’t really feel necessary because Pac-Man is less a representation of his series but instead a representation of classic Namco arcade games like Mappy and, well, Pac-Man. Namco’s legacy really rides on their arcade success, and judging from their constant rereleases of their arcade games in compilations or in standalones, I think they share a similar sentiment. If Namco really wanted another character, they could’ve and would’ve included them in base.

 

[Guybrush20X6]

When fighter number five and or six is announced, we can pinpoint the date they will release if they have a game on a Nintendo console. I did not join smashboards yet but I accurately predicated the date that Hero and Terry were available for download. Dates have meaning. Luminary released 1 day before his 3DS anniversary; Terry released 1 day before the anniversary of SNK Heroines. The exception are characters with upcoming Switch announcements and Banjo-Kazooie, for obvious reasons.

For example, let's pretend that KOS-MOS was announced in December. She would drop February 27th, which would align with Xenosaga's anniversary. Out of any theory, focusing on significant game release dates makes sense since this is how several characters were revealed and promoted during Smash 4's prerelease.

Interesting theory, let's see how it pans out.

Any Spyro related anniversaries soon?

 

[Deleted member]

I know the Resident Evil conversation has died down, but I just wanted to bring up a potential situation that could happen at the Game Awards. So the inevitable R3Make actually hasn't been formally announced yet. And, obviously, with RE2Make being critically acclaimed and being nominated for Game of the Year, it'd be a perfect place to announce it. Secondly, it turns out Capcom is actually looking to release this remake for 2020. It's mentioned in the first half of this video.
I could easily see Capcom making the announcement for R3Make and having it immediately followed by an announcement for Jill for Smash. It'd be the perfect segue. It would also fit how Joker and Hero were released before P5 Royal and DQXIS if R3Make is to be released in 2020 and Jill is released in Jan 2020.

Not saying it's guaranteed, but I think it would work out pretty nicely.

Man R3make would be hype. Imagine Mr. X AI but with a rocket launcher. That **** is bound to make memes.

 

[SvartWolf]

I think I might be alone on this, but I think Pac-Man is the only rep Namco really needs. To me at least, characters like Lloyd and Heihachi don’t really feel necessary because Pac-Man is less a representation of his series but instead a representation of classic Namco arcade games like Mappy and, well, Pac-Man. Namco’s legacy really rides on their arcade success, and judging from their constant rereleases of their arcade games in compilations or in standalones, I think they share a similar sentiment. If Namco really wanted another character, they could’ve and would’ve included them in base.

Tekken is still pretty big in the FGC and Bandai and Bandai Namco are 2 (or one?) of the biggest pillars of Anime Games.

 

[RileyXY1]

I think I might be alone on this, but I think Pac-Man is the only rep Namco really needs. To me at least, characters like Lloyd and Heihachi don’t really feel necessary because Pac-Man is less a representation of his series but instead a representation of classic Namco arcade games like Mappy and, well, Pac-Man. Namco’s legacy really rides on their arcade success, and judging from their constant rereleases of their arcade games in compilations or in standalones, I think they share a similar sentiment. If Namco really wanted another character, they could’ve and would’ve included them in base.

I don't think the same way, especially considering how obsessed Namco Bandai are with crossovers.

 

[Mushroomguy12]

I think it would be nice for Pac-Man to get Ms. Pac-Man as an echo and then have any one or two of Lloyd, KOS-MOS, etc. as another franchise to at least have one more universe repped since it's the only 3rd Party from Ultimate's base roster that still only has one character.

 

[SMAASH! Puppy]

I mean.. im 100% sure that more people know about Half Life the videogame than Half Life the scientific concept.

I dunno...There are quite a few 10th grade students and teachers out there.

 

[Mushroomguy12]

FP5 leak

There was a problem fetching the tweet

 

[Guybrush20X6]

I think I might be alone on this, but I think Pac-Man is the only rep Namco really needs. To me at least, characters like Lloyd and Heihachi don’t really feel necessary because Pac-Man is less a representation of his series but instead a representation of classic Namco arcade games like Mappy and, well, Pac-Man. Namco’s legacy really rides on their arcade success, and judging from their constant rereleases of their arcade games in compilations or in standalones, I think they share a similar sentiment. If Namco really wanted another character, they could’ve and would’ve included them in base.

I disagree, Tekken is the landmark 3D Fighting game, at one point outselling Street Fighter.

And there's one more legacy character that they've sorely neglected as of late, Ms. Pac-Man. I'm sure she's only in Smash because of the game using legacy sprites that are kosher with the legal team.
She was one of the first (if not the first) big female game protagonist, and is the Pac-Man sequel everyone remembers over the official Super Pac-Man.

Come to think of it, the Pac-Man series in Smash as a whole is a bit anaemic. None of the Midway stuff, no Pac-Man World, no Toothy monstrosity Pac-Man (Rubbish missing is still stuff missing).

 

[Cutie Gwen]

Man R3make would be hype. Imagine Mr. X AI but with a rocket launcher. That **** is bound to make memes.

I'm just waiting for people to piss themselves at this huge dude with a rocket launcher to kick down the door of the save room. You thought you were safe in there? Wrong *****, now unload half of the ammo in the game on me to try and get some items

 

[Deleted member]

I'm just waiting for people to piss themselves at this huge dude with a rocket launcher to kick down the door of the save room. You thought you were safe in there? Wrong *****, now unload half of the ammo in the game on me to try and get some items

MFW Nemesis' new AI will now blow up typewriters. That's right. The amount of locations you can save will now gradually decrease the longer you wait.

 

[EricTheGamerman]

I know the Resident Evil conversation has died down, but I just wanted to bring up a potential situation that could happen at the Game Awards. So the inevitable R3Make actually hasn't been formally announced yet. And, obviously, with RE2Make being critically acclaimed and being nominated for Game of the Year, it'd be a perfect place to announce it. Secondly, it turns out Capcom is actually looking to release this remake for 2020. It's mentioned in the first half of this video.

I could easily see Capcom making the announcement for R3Make and having it immediately followed by an announcement for Jill for Smash. It'd be the perfect segue. It would also fit how Joker and Hero were released before P5 Royal and DQXIS if R3Make is to be released in 2020 and Jill is released in Jan 2020.

Not saying it's guaranteed, but I think it would work out pretty nicely.

A R3make announcement paired with a Jill Valentine Smash reveal would be super hype and would make perfect sense. I would absolutely love to see Resident Evil got the red carpet treatment for Smash in general, and The Game Awards seems like an excellent place to do that. I still lean towards Bandai-Namco as Fighter #5 at this point for a few reasons, but I do think Resident Evil just makes way, way, way too much sense to not eventually end up in Smash, and is one of my alternative options for #5 right now.

I think I might be alone on this, but I think Pac-Man is the only rep Namco really needs. To me at least, characters like Lloyd and Heihachi don’t really feel necessary because Pac-Man is less a representation of his series but instead a representation of classic Namco arcade games like Mappy and, well, Pac-Man. Namco’s legacy really rides on their arcade success, and judging from their constant rereleases of their arcade games in compilations or in standalones, I think they share a similar sentiment. If Namco really wanted another character, they could’ve and would’ve included them in base.

OK? If Pac-Man represents "classic Namco arcade games," then how does that mean anything to Tekken, Tales, Digimon, Dark Souls, etc. You'd include all of those series on their own merits and influence on gaming, with Tekken and Dark Souls being absolutely essential parts of gaming on their own. All those franchises operate independently of Namco arcade experiences and make sense to include in Smash on their own merits.

Plus, I'm not sure Pac-Man really represents "classic Namco arcade games" in the first place. Like, he's designed entirely around Pac-Man related content save for a couple of remixes. Hell, he only has a grand total of 5 Spirits in Ultimate too. Bandai-Namco is super lacking on content right now if we're being honest. They're actually significantly worse off in terms of content than even Square Enix at this point...