Official Newcomer/DLC Speculation Discussion

[Morning Raven]

Miku is sort of in an interesting place when it comes to who owns her. The vocal software and her likeness is owned by Crypton Media, while her videogames are owned by Sega. Music is a licensing labyrinth divided across multiple entities. Here's the copyright info for the Project Diva games.



Negotiating for the character itself would require Nintendo to directly negotiate with Crypton. However, should elements from Project Diva be implemented into Smash, Nintendo would also have to go through Sega as well.

And that isn't factoring the issue of music. This is arguably the most difficult part when it comes to negotiating for Miku. Because the Miku software is available to the public, a lot of music starring her are split across various artists, labels, and record companies. This isn't a case where Nintendo would negotiate with a single music-holding entity for licenses like Dragon Quest's Sugiyama; Nintendo may have to negotiate with multiple music-holding entities ranging from independent freelance artists to major record companies like Sony Music Japan and Pony Canyon in order to acquire a set of tracks to their liking. Frankly, this is the biggest elephant in the room when it comes to Miku. (Project Diva's tracks are handled by Sony, so Nintendo would have to at least go through one of Japan's largest music labels in order to acquire some appropriate tracks.)

Of course Nintendo could probably have their own in-house composers make original music with the Miku software, but considering how music attached to characters so far are not original, this is probably not likely.

What this shows is that while definitely not impossible if the money and effort is put in, Nintendo would have to go through many hurdles to acquire Miku in Smash.

That's an excellent summary honestly. So yea, Sora is cakewalk in comparison in terms of quantity of hoops.

I feel like, realistically, they'd attempt to get like one real song, like Catch the Wave from MegaMix for the reveal trailer. And then make Miku mixes of World of Light and Jump Up Super Star etc.

 

[wynn728]

Another thing to note is that the Ballot was open to all video game characters, not just those who were created in Japan. I believe that Sakurai is aware of the requests for Western-made characters,

He's totally aware, he just doesn't care for a lot of them. And seeing how Nintendo is handling all DLC characters from now on and only one was really put in just due to fan request you can kiss that ballot goodbye.

 

[Gyrom8]

For first parties, most wanted female character for me is Midna
I also think a duo of Off the Hook could be fun considering that a lot of Splatoon weaponry hasn't been touched on yet

For third parties, it's definitely Amaterasu

 

[Megadoomer]

He's totally aware, he just doesn't care for a lot of them. And seeing how Nintendo is handling all DLC characters from now on and only one was really put in just due to fan request you can kiss that ballot goodbye.

Joker and Byleth didn't even exist at the time of the ballot (people wouldn't vote for characters when their games when they either hadn't been announced or weren't out yet), but the other three Fighters Pass characters seem like they'd have plenty of demand (especially Banjo and a Dragon Quest hero - not as sure about Terry specifically, but I could see there being quite a few SNK characters requested through the ballot).

Plus, that's ignoring the base game and acting like (at the very least) and Everyone Is Here didn't happen, all of which were probably or explicitly added because of the ballot. (Inkling likely would have gotten in regardless of the ballot)

 

[Dinoman96]

Isabelle wasn't included because of the ballot, what?

She's on the same boat as Inklings of being characters that would of been included no matter what.

 

[Cutie Gwen]

I'm really sick of people bringing up the ballot when it's pretty outdated, so much has happened since October 2015 and so many games have come out since, so the 10+ characters we got from it's influence is plenty

 

[osby]

He's totally aware, he just doesn't care for a lot of them. And seeing how Nintendo is handling all DLC characters from now on and only one was really put in just due to fan request you can kiss that ballot goodbye.

I sure hope so.

The ballot was more than a couple of years ago and had a relatively small voter pool with no way to prevent double-voters. We've already got multiple newcomers and directory decisions influenced directly or indirectly by the ballot.

The only reason some people still couldn't let the ballot go is a weird belief that only hardcore Smash forum darlings placed high in it and we should only ever get them and nothing else.

 

[Megadoomer]

Isabelle wasn't included because of the ballot, what?

She's on the same boat as Inklings of being characters that would of been included no matter what.

That's fair; I'm not overly familiar with Animal Crossing, so I thought the ballot might have played a part.

 

[Garteam]

There is a lot of reasons why we have gotten way more Japanese characters, then just sales.

Nintendo only owns two western studios being NST and Retro, Japanese third party support is overall much stronger then western third party support. Like Activsion and Ubisoft are barely on the platform and EA support is non-existent on Switch, Nintendo being a Japanese company is more likely to work with companies in their country and the team that made Smash Ultimate is far more likely to use characters they themselves are more familiar with.

This is Next Level Games erasure and I will not stand for it.

 

[SneakyLink]

This is Next Level Games erasure and I will not stand for it.

Next Level Games is not owned by Nintendo...

but they do work exclusively for their platforms.

 

[Garteam]

Next Level Games is not owned by Nintendo...

but they do work exclusively for their platforms.

Huh, didn't know that actually. I always assumed they were an in-house Nintendo studio

 

[Diddy Kong]

Microsoft really isn't a competitor to Nintendo anymore.

Cool. So when do we get Banjo on Switch and when will Rare make Donkey Kong games for Nintendo again?

 

[Professor Pumpkaboo]

I think Miku works better as an assist trophy if anything. But that spot is taken by the Splatoon girls.

And hopefully whatever Produser they go to lets them use their song

 

[Deleted member]

Microsoft really isn't a competitor to Nintendo anymore.

As long as they're in the same market, they'll always be competing. Companies can have cross-promotional stuff and even work together, but that doesn't mean they're no longer competing.

They may even occupy two different areas of the market (Xbox & Nintendo tend to appeal to different shares of the gaming market), but they still compete in the overall gaming market.

 

[SpectreJordan]

Just that the timing of when they first met is after when the second Fighter's Pass was decided:

How heavily that affects 2B's chances is a question of whether or not Sakurai would personally meet with Taro before putting 2B in. I don't think he'd have to since Nintendo is picking the characters, but I could potentially see him wanting to do that, so I'm still kind of gathering my thoughts on what her chances are. I'd love to see her join though

Ah, I see. I still think that helps her chances. Sakurai & Taro aren’t important pre-decision. It’d be a decision between Nintendo & Square first. The dinner helps with that since the two could be discussing how to implement her & represent Nier since it (theoretically) has already been decided on.

 

[Michael the Spikester]

Geno fans are gonna be prepared for disappointment yet again when nothing is revealed today.

 

[Garteam]

Honestly, it's pretty clear we're in the periphery of the Ballot. Most of the ballot's really big names (the vets, , , , , etc.) are in, so we're starting to reach pretty deep into the cookie jar for new content. Honestly, the only two ballot superstars who aren't playable are Bandana Waddle Dee and Geno and even then some would say they're no longer eligible due to being spirits in the base game.

 

[Michael the Spikester]

Most of the ballot's really big names (the vets, , , , , etc.)

Don't forgetand

 

[SpectreJordan]

Joker and Byleth didn't even exist at the time of the ballot (people wouldn't vote for characters when their games when they either hadn't been announced or weren't out yet), but the other three Fighters Pass characters seem like they'd have plenty of demand (especially Banjo and a Dragon Quest hero - not as sure about Terry specifically, but I could see there being quite a few SNK characters requested through the ballot).

Plus, that's ignoring the base game and acting like (at the very least) and Everyone Is Here didn't happen, all of which were probably or explicitly added because of the ballot. (Inkling likely would have gotten in regardless of the ballot)

There’s also a ton of characters who have gained popularity since the poll came out too. Sora, Dante, Doom Slayer, Master Chief, Steve, a Resident Evil character, Crash, etc...

As well as other characters who’ve debuted since then like 2B, Hollow Knight, an Undertale character, etc...

I know people still desperately want Geno, Bandana Dee & whatnot but acting like Sakurai isn’t picking characters people love is really selfish & short sighted. Even Byleth has a big fanbase since Three Houses was a great game.

 

[zferolie]

So its looking like unless we get a surprise announcement tommorow, nothing is happening for Mario day.

Man when are we getting any news for any nintendo game after march? We litterally know nothing about the rest of the year. No exact dates for xenoblade or zelda, no games for any other month this year, and again no news about who the first smash character will be almost 2 months after announcing the second pass.

What is nintendo doing? Are they really just that focused on animal crossing nothing else matters? Could the virus be effecting nintendo and they havent said anything?

 

[Cutie Gwen]

So its looking like unless we get a surprise announcement tommorow, nothing is happening for Mario day.

Man when are we getting any news for any nintendo game after march? We litterally know nothing about the rest of the year. No exact dates for xenoblade or zelda, no games for any other month this year, and again no news about who the first smash character will be almost 2 months after announcing the second pass.

What is nintendo doing? Are they really just that focused on animal crossing nothing else matters? Could the virus be effecting nintendo and they havent said anything?

Animal Crossing is one of Ninty's biggest franchises, Nintendo sometimes likes putting their focus exclusively on their biggest game that year, especially seen with 2018 and Smash

 

[zferolie]

Animal Crossing is one of Ninty's biggest franchises, Nintendo sometimes likes putting their focus exclusively on their biggest game that year, especially seen with 2018 and Smash

True, i just havent seen them ignore other games this much along side. Smash they still talked about other games when smash was getting close, same with breath of the wild and mario and pokemon....

 

[Curious Villager]

So its looking like unless we get a surprise announcement tommorow, nothing is happening for Mario day.

Man when are we getting any news for any nintendo game after march? We litterally know nothing about the rest of the year. No exact dates for xenoblade or zelda, no games for any other month this year, and again no news about who the first smash character will be almost 2 months after announcing the second pass.

What is nintendo doing? Are they really just that focused on animal crossing nothing else matters? Could the virus be effecting nintendo and they havent said anything?

If I where to hazard a guess, they might be waiting until New Horizons comes out and focusing all their marketing on that before they announce whatever else they got in store for the year...

 

[CapitaineCrash]

From what I've heard there will most likely be a direct on the 26th March. Plans might change so don't scream at me if it's false (and don't praise me if it's true because I hate that). I'm just saying that you shouldn't expect a direct before that.

 

[Rie Sonomura]

Keep in mind that that Pass 2 physical card is due out the 23rd. The Pass 1 card was released shortly after Joker’s reveal, so we should at least know who FP6 is well before the 23rd.

From what I've heard there will most likely be a direct on the 26th March. Plans might change so don't scream at me if it's false (and don't praise me if it's true because I hate that). I'm just saying that you shouldn't expect a direct before that.

Where’d you hear this?

 

[Dinoman96]

From what I've heard there will most likely be a direct on the 26th March. Plans might change so don't scream at me if it's false (and don't praise me if it's true because I hate that). I'm just saying that you shouldn't expect a direct before that.

Do you have actual insider sources?

 

[zferolie]

If I where to hazard a guess, they might be waiting until New Horizons comes out and focusing all their marketing on that before they announce whatever else they got in store for the year...

Perhaps. Still as someone who really doesnt care for animal crossing, not knowing anything else coming out this year is a bit frustrating. Seems weord to so greatly focus on 1 game ignoring anything else.

I am a little worried this may he a year without too many big name games... though we still have thos leaks of paper mario from that guy on resetera who has a near perfect record.

 

[Professor Pumpkaboo]

Geno fans are gonna be prepared for disappointment yet again when nothing is revealed today.

In all honestly, Im not sure why anyone would expect anything to be announced today

 

[Rie Sonomura]

They’ve never announced anything on a Monday right? Not counting the Robin/Lucina reveal on July 14, 2014 that was announced in advance...

 

[zferolie]

In all honestly, Im not sure why anyone would expect anything to be announced today

I think it was more announce some sort of announcement for mario day tommorow.

 

[TriggerX]

Geno fans are gonna be prepared for disappointment yet again when nothing is revealed today.

I hope Nintendo would at least acknowledge Smrpg in a tweet or something if it’s anniversary is today.

If they don’t, I’m leaning towards no major Smrpg additions to smash. His costume coming back sure.

However if they don’t, at this point I’m thinking that series really isnt even on their radar. And if they plan on bringing back such an obscure character, you would think marketing would want to at least increase awareness.
Such a missed opportunity if anything. Could be potentially saved for Mario day, but at that point I’d expect the reveal to be paper Mario.

 

[CapitaineCrash]

I hope Nintendo would at least acknowledge Smrpg in a tweet or something if it’s anniversary is today.

If they don’t, I’m leaning towards no major Smrpg additions to smash. His costume coming back sure.

However if they don’t, at this point I’m thinking that series really isnt even on their radar. And if they plan on bringing back such an obscure character, you would think marketing would want to at least increase awareness.
Such a missed opportunity if anything. Could be potentially saved for Mario day, but at that point I’d expect the reveal to be paper Mario.

To be fair Nintendo rarely acknowledge game anniversary (aside from Mario, Zelda and Pokémon). If there's nothing I wouldn't give hope on a release of the game for the snes online app or something.

 

[Faso115]

Hey smashboards, still dying from lack of news?

Ya hate to see it

 

[Professor Pumpkaboo]

Hey smashboards, still dying from lack of news?

Ya hate to see it

It be like that sometimes

 

[Tora_Toad]

I'm banking on Dragonborn, The Elder Scrolls games are also Action RPGs.

Rex, Toad, Tora and Bandanna Dee NEED to be in the game

 

[Rie Sonomura]

Rex, Toad, Tora and Bandanna Dee NEED to be in the game

... what does that have to do with the message you quoted (which is almost two months old at that)?

 

[Guynamednelson]

Rex, Toad, Tora and Bandanna Dee NEED to be in the game

Sorry, but these characters being DLC would cause Nintendo to be erased from history, cats and dogs to live together, black to become white, up to become down, and...erm...a few people online to be bitter about another copyright not being added to the title screen. We can't have that now!

 

[Michael the Spikester]

In all honestly, Im not sure why anyone would expect anything to be announced today

That's the Geno fans for you.

 

[Professor Pumpkaboo]

That's the Geno fans for you.

well not specificly them but I hope everyone stops waiting for any kind if announcment and just go on with their lives. Its unhealthy to wait day after day after day for something you dont know will happen out not

 

[Michael the Spikester]

well not specificly them but I hope everyone stops waiting for any kind if announcment and just go on with their lives. Its unhealthy to wait day after day after day for something you dont know will happen out not

Good thing I do other things during my time like reading watching shows/movies, going out, playing with and walking my dogs.