Official Newcomer/DLC Speculation Discussion

[Garteam]

If High Score Girl is anything to go by, the original trilogy of Mortal Kombat games did receive a limited but still somewhat successful release in Japan, so it's not completely foreign to the region. But, recent releases not being released definitely hurts the franchise's chance at getting into Smash.

Sakurai probably knows about Mortal Kombat due to being an avid patron of fighting games in the 90s, but most of Japan's general population probably doesn't recognize it.

 

[StormC]

Actually, I've been reading about it still having a lot of fans, including the games being sold there. To be fair, I never once heard it was unable to be sold on PC, and quite the opposite in fact. Could you cite that one? I mean, Venus'll clear it up soon enough, but I'm interested in the source regardless.

https://appuals.com/mortal-kombat-11-skips-japan-release-due-to-excessively-violent-content/

While it doesn't specify PC, buying PC games outside of Steam or similar services is extremely rare, and says this: "The only information we have is that the game will not be released in Japan." Where are you reading that the series still having lots of fans? I don't think it even ever sold well in Japan.

 

[Captain Fun]

PC is not "Steam". Those are different things.


Again, PC isn't Steam. They're different things. I've already talked to someone who buys Mortal Kombat games in Japan, just not on consoles.

Venus of the Desert Bloom was talking about how the series is played there to me, but I might be misremembering. Point stands that PC gaming is a separate thing from Steam, which is something more akin to an emulation program in a way. Not literally, but you can buy separate PC games as a hard copy unrelated to Steam. Steam =/= PC.

To clarify more, PC gaming doesn't have the same restrictions that other consoles do. They allow for more because it's not a video game console. At least that's how I was taught it, so again, I could be off on this. But I do remember it being sold outside of consoles(Steam is pretty much close to a console as it's mainly for games only, not a computer that does multiple things and can be used for gaming).

It still doesn’t have a CERO rating and isn’t officially distributed in Japan.

Also I’m not sure what other services would be selling it in Japan if not Steam. You can buy it through other storefronts but I’m pretty sure they’re just selling Steam keys.

 

[Verde Coeden Scalesworth]

That's not what jumping the shark is. Jumping the shark is when something incredibly stupid and baffling happens and that coincides with the start of a drop in quality.

That's not what jumping the shark is either. That's a misleading thing about it. Jumping the shark isn't about being "stupid", it's about a huge shift or addition to a long-running franchise that comes out of nowhere. Though maybe it could be argued that it happened too early in the franchise for Brawl to count for it. But it was long established towards the fanbase as a "Nintendo crossover" since Melee for a good majority of the fanbase, so the huge shift of suddenly adding 3rd parties was a huge deal no matter how you go about it. It really did come out of nowhere. Jumping the Shark is not a negative thing at all. You're thinking more of something like Ruined Forever, which is a negativity trope about when they actually change things for the stupidity factor. Or at least what fans think are stupid(which isn't always unjustified. The lack of a national dex being met with backlash is understandable). Some will call things ruined forever when it jumps the shark(when people did when 3rd parties were added, no less).

https://appuals.com/mortal-kombat-11-skips-japan-release-due-to-excessively-violent-content/

While it doesn't specify PC, buying PC games outside of Steam or similar services is extremely rare, and says this: "The only information we have is that the game will not be released in Japan." Where are you reading that the series still having lots of fans? I don't think it even ever sold well in Japan.

I was reading it in the Scorpion thread which cited it.

...Also, I'll say that's not too reliable if it doesn't list all the systems it's banned. It should actually say PC if that's the case.

It still doesn’t have a CERO rating and isn’t officially distributed in Japan.

Also I’m not sure what other services would be selling it in Japan if not Steam. You can buy it through other storefronts but I’m pretty sure they’re just selling Steam keys.

Okay, that's a lot more clear. Though I don't know how PC games being sold works there. From what I was led to understand, PC games don't require CERO to sell, which is how they got around selling some games or something? But again, Venus seems to understand it better than me, so again, I could be wrong.

 

[Playstation Guy 1000]

If High Score Girl is anything to go by, the original trilogy of Mortal Kombat games did receive a limited but still somewhat successful release in Japan, so it's not completely foreign to the region. But, recent releases not being released definitely hurts the franchise's chance at getting into Smash.

Sakurai probably knows about Mortal Kombat due to being an avid patron of fighting games in the 90s, but most of Japan's general population probably doesn't recognize it.

it makes me wonder can't they(Midway/ NetherRealm Studios) make a censored version of Mortal Kombat for the Japanese audience

 

[Rie Sonomura]

it makes me wonder can't they(Midway/ NetherRealm Studios) make a censored version of Mortal Kombat for the Japanese audience

It’s possible? Bethesda has made censored versions of the Wolfenstein games for Germany for YEARS

they also censored I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream but unfortunately made the game Literally Unbeatable in the process

 

[Nquoid]

That's not what jumping the shark is either. That's a misleading thing about it. Jumping the shark isn't about being "stupid", it's about a huge shift or addition to a long-running franchise that comes out of nowhere. Though maybe it could be argued that it happened too early in the franchise for Brawl to count for it. But it was long established towards the fanbase as a "Nintendo crossover" since Melee for a good majority of the fanbase, so the huge shift of suddenly adding 3rd parties was a huge deal no matter how you go about it. It really did come out of nowhere. Jumping the Shark is not a negative thing at all. You're thinking more of something like Ruined Forever, which is a negativity trope about when they actually change things for the stupidity factor. Or at least what fans think are stupid(which isn't always unjustified. The lack of a national dex being met with backlash is understandable). Some will call things ruined forever when it jumps the shark(when people did when 3rd parties were added, no less).

Jumping the Shark is when something that used to be really popular does an ill advised stunt to try and claw back relevance. Smash adding third parties in Brawl is not that (although people will incorrectly say it was) because it was not on a decline in popularity.

If Ultimate sold less than 4 and then 6 added fourth party characters, then that would most likely be classified as jumping the shark.

Also jumping the shark is almost always used as a negative. The only time you could call it a positive is when the insane thing they do is so insane it actually circles back round to be a good development.

 

[N3ON]

I have never in my life heard Jumped the Shark used positively. I really don't think that's what it means.

I'm almost positive it means a deviation from the norm (typically, but probably not always, to remain relevant) that coincides with backlash and usually a gradual decline in quality and engagement.

It wouldn't apply to third-parties being added in Smash. That was divisive and a definite shift, but was overall received positively, and proved a successful series maneuver. It might apply to non-video game characters in Smash, but we can only speculate at that. It's largely contingent on how it's handled and the following reaction.

 

[StormC]

it makes me wonder can't they(Midway/ NetherRealm Studios) make a censored version of Mortal Kombat for the Japanese audience

Probably don’t see much point in it when total sales would probably be <50k anyway.

 

[Verde Coeden Scalesworth]

I don't agree with negativity being an inherent feature of it regardless, but I did misread the quality decline thing.

Anyway, I doubt non-game 3rd parties would be added because of that, so it doesn't really fit Jumping the Shark either, since the issue isn't a question of remaining relevant. Ruined Forever would be far more accurate in that case for many. Smash itself won't stop being relevant because it's one of the biggest and most notable gaming crossovers of all time. Its name alone gets hype. An announcement of one character won't stop the hype.

A specific game, sure, that'll stagnate at some point, but not the franchise. Non-game 3rd parties definitely have dedicated fanbases, and a lot of the extremely popular characters being added to break the limits of what was possible feels like a more realistic reason we'd ever get one(which isn't a realistic thing to expect anyway).

Made my thoughts a bit more clear via an edit.

 

[SirCamp]

Jumping the shark is absolutely negative in nature. It’s literally the point of the phrase.

 

[Playstation Guy 1000]

Probably don’t see much point in it when total sales would probably be <50k anyway.

sadly true

 

[Opossum]

Yeah, there is literally no case in which Jumping the Shark is used as a positive expression. Like, it's not even up for debate; it's a matter of the phrase's definition.

 

[King Sonnn DeDeDoo]

So I’ve talked about this before and it’s probably just going to boil down to just blind speculation, but in Sakurai’s tweet about Nintendo choosing the lineup of DLC characters, who do you think is “Nintendo” in this case?

Is it just Nintendo of Japan or were other branches consulted? Did they dedicate a team to researching and pursuing a deal to acquiring the rights of potential high selling characters, or was it decided by senior members of the company who put forward who they thought would be cool in Smash?

 

[Verde Coeden Scalesworth]

So I’ve talked about this before and it’s probably just going to boil down to just blind speculation, but in Sakurai’s tweet about Nintendo choosing the lineup of DLC characters, who do you think is “Nintendo” in this case?

Is it just Nintendo of Japan or were other branches consulted? Did they dedicate a team to researching and pursuing a deal to acquiring the rights of potential high selling characters, or was it decided by senior members of the company who put forward who they thought would be cool in Smash?

To be honest, I feel it's more Nintendo of Japan than anyone else.

They're the ones who can communicate with Sakurai fast and efficiently and figure out all the DLC. Sakurai needing translators for some DLC choices still has some difficulties, though.

 

[SKX31]

it makes me wonder can't they(Midway/ NetherRealm Studios) make a censored version of Mortal Kombat for the Japanese audience

Probably don’t see much point in it when total sales would probably be <50k anyway.

It's a case where neither CEVO nor Netherrealm will budge (either change the rating system for the former, gamplay elements / Fatalities for the latter) and both pretty much saying "Not worth the hassle".

Netherrealm could very well be much more interested in a possible MK anime or manga really - they're not as strictly rated as video games. It's not unreasonable when Castlevania's only been active as a Netflix series recently and still got into Smash.

 

[GoodGrief741]

That's not what jumping the shark is either. That's a misleading thing about it. Jumping the shark isn't about being "stupid", it's about a huge shift or addition to a long-running franchise that comes out of nowhere. Though maybe it could be argued that it happened too early in the franchise for Brawl to count for it. But it was long established towards the fanbase as a "Nintendo crossover" since Melee for a good majority of the fanbase, so the huge shift of suddenly adding 3rd parties was a huge deal no matter how you go about it. It really did come out of nowhere. Jumping the Shark is not a negative thing at all. You're thinking more of something like Ruined Forever, which is a negativity trope about when they actually change things for the stupidity factor. Or at least what fans think are stupid(which isn't always unjustified. The lack of a national dex being met with backlash is understandable). Some will call things ruined forever when it jumps the shark(when people did when 3rd parties were added, no less).


I was reading it in the Scorpion thread which cited it.

...Also, I'll say that's not too reliable if it doesn't list all the systems it's banned. It should actually say PC if that's the case.


Okay, that's a lot more clear. Though I don't know how PC games being sold works there. From what I was led to understand, PC games don't require CERO to sell, which is how they got around selling some games or something? But again, Venus seems to understand it better than me, so again, I could be wrong.

Jumping the Shark is 100% a negative phenomenon, and is basically a retrospective version of Ruined Forever.

Here, read up, I think it's pretty unambiguous: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/JumpingTheShark

it makes me wonder can't they(Midway/ NetherRealm Studios) make a censored version of Mortal Kombat for the Japanese audience

What would be the point? The gore is a selling point in MK, and they don't have an attachment to the brand that would compensate for the watered down version.

 

[DarthEnderX]

It's not really. Licensing is the only thing that outright matters. The rest is far more personal opinion and completely debatable if there's a real issue or not.

It's not a personal opinion. It's the opinion of the guy in charge of the games.

 

[Verde Coeden Scalesworth]

It's not a personal opinion. It's the opinion of the guy in charge of the games.

And that would make it still a personal opinion. Sakurai preferring something doesn't make it objective. Nor is it really clear if he dislikes the idea, so it's far too subjective for it to be as much of a factor as people want it to be. He might be more clear some day, though.

Licensing is an objective factor and still a factor as well, and also the main reason why it has no real chance of happening. When calling it impossible, his reasoning always came back to licensing. He's never actually made any clear response on what his actual opinion of the idea is. The funny thing is, that he just doesn't really give a proper response, just treating it like "it can't happen, so why should my opinion matter". He has no reason to give an opinion of something that isn't even in consideration. If he properly considers it and dismissed it, we'll know at some point. But that has yet to happen, so his opinion of whether it's a good idea or not is currently a moot point. What isn't is the actual reason, licensing, which he treats as impossible(for whatever reason). Of course, it's probably due to his personal opinion that it's more impossible than he makes it out be, but he doesn't own the Smash series, so it could just be PR speak in general for all we know. He can't state every reason on why something is in. When it comes to licensing, it also involves Nintendo. So if they don't want him to say something, that's just what happens, nothing clear.

He's very vague at times anyway, so this isn't that odd.

Jumping the Shark is 100% a negative phenomenon, and is basically a retrospective version of Ruined Forever.

Here, read up, I think it's pretty unambiguous: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/JumpingTheShark

I already dropped the argument because I misread a bit of the page anyway. Please move on like I did.

 

[Ayumi Tachibana]

Does Mortal Kombat has any significance in the gaming history like Doom does?
All I know about MK is its gores. I won't say historical significance is required for 3rd parties to make into smash, I just really don't know much about the franchise.

 

[Michael the Spikester]

Does Mortal Kombat has any significance in the gaming history like Doom does?
All I know about MK is its gores. I won't say historical significance is required for 3rd parties to make into smash, I just really don't know much about the franchise.

Its one of the few games that started the ESRB due to its conservatory of violence.

That and it was made to rival Street Fighter's success still being rival fighting games to this day.

 

[BZL8]

Given the choice of putting either only a Sony/Microsoft character (i.e. Nathan Drake, Kratos, Kat, Master Chief, Steve, etc.) or a non-videogame character in Smash (Goku, Mickey Mouse, James Bond, etc.), I would rather pick the former than the latter. I would imagine Sakurai would most likely do the same.

Wouldn't be surprised if, in reality, its actually easier to negotiate and obtain a character or two from Sony and/or Microsoft than obtain a single character from the likes of entities like Disney, Shueisha, Eon Productions and the Ian Fleming Estate (and whatever agent represents the Bond actor), etc. Don't underestimate how tricky some of these companies and creative estates can be, especially in the case of Disney (looking at MvCI).

I would imagine Disney is also the elephant in the room that is deterring Kingdom Hearts content from appearing in Smash Bros.

 

[Michael the Spikester]

What would be the point? The gore is a selling point in MK, and they don't have an attachment to the brand that would compensate for the watered down version.

Why I despised Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe with a passion. Never should had been made. Hands down the worst Mortal Kombat game made.

Mortal Kombat just isn't Mortal Kombat without its gore. Guest characters in other fighting games is fine but an Mortal Kombat game as a whole should never dip below an M rating.

 

[TheGuv]

Is Jibanyan considered a videogame character?

 

[Rie Sonomura]

Is Jibanyan considered a videogame character?

Yokai Watch was a video game first soooo yes

 

[TheYungLink]

This is just my opinion, but between Doom and Mortal Kombat, I think the former is more fit for Smash. Doom paved the way for an entire video game genre and the fast-paced nature of Doom's movement and maneuvering is easier to translate into Smash because, while Doom is gory, it's not what made the game so influential. The gore certainly was a part of why it got popular, but its appeal was enduring because, quite simply, there were no other games on the market that played like Doom (except Wolfenstein 3D, but that game didn't take off in popularity the way Doom did). That's why for a very long time first person shooters were called "Doom clones". Basically, Doom can get away with its character not representing the gore of its native game in Smash.

Mortal Kombat, on the other hand, was a riff on Street Fighter with its most influential aspect being that it caused the ESRB to form over how incredibly violent and gory it was. Even though some Mortal Kombat games have deep and interesting fighting mechanics, a huge part of the appeal and identity of the games is its gore. Take away the gore and Mortal Kombat is another Street Fighter take but with prerendered graphics for its playable characters a la Donkey Kong Country. It never would have taken off the way it did without the notoriety of its beheadings, spine ripping, etc.

I'd hesitate to claim that either of them are that popular in Japan, but of the two I find Doomguy / Doom Slayer more likely. But that's just me.

 

[TheGuv]

The last thing I'll say about the idea of non-video game characters getting into the Smash series, is that the moment it happens is the moment the series jumps the shark.

There are plenty of characters available to include in Smash before a non-gaming character is included. Smash Bros. is a gaming crossover. Sakurai has already shot down the idea of Goku, Spongebob, Iron Man, and others. I'd take that as close to a "0% chance" as one can get. It's not just a "Anything can happen! He's a troll!" thing, it's that it flies directly against the design philosophy of Smash Ultimate, which is to be the biggest crossover in gaming history.

With two slots left, and with several top-of-the-line series to pull from: Resident Evil, Tekken, Devil May Cry, Tales, Minecraft, Crash Bandicoot, Ace Attorney, Ninja Gaiden, King of Fighters, Mortal Kombat, Monster Hunter...and Nintendo series that could receive newcomers in the future, like Xenoblade, Pokemon, Fire Emblem, ARMS...there is quite simply no reason to entertain the idea as legitimately possible besides the occasional, "Heh, wouldn't it be funny if a manga character made it into Smash? The fans would be seething!"

Not saying that anybody is actually thinking it's going to happen anytime soon, but the logic of adding a non-video game character to a game that is striving toward being the "biggest crossover in gaming history" isn't there. It would be like Mickey Mouse suddenly appearing in Avenger's Endgame for no other reason than, "Oh wow! That's a curveball! Look at how surprised it made everyone!"

It goes against the design of the game, especially when there are still high quality characters and series to pull from.

And even when they run of "top-of-the-line" series they still have stuff stuff like Team Fortress,Overwatch, Inazuma Eleven, Disgaea, Cave Story, Valkyria Chronicles, Yakuza, God Eater, Ys, Code Vein, Granblue Fantasy, League of Legends, Undertale, Hyperdimension Neptunia, Harvest Moon, Darkstalkers and millions and millions of IPs, hell i think Sakurai would add first a Sony character or a random gatcha character over a non-videogame character.

Also, there's 7 years minimum between Smash gmes and there's new IPs created by then and all of those would get over Goku for sure.

 

[PeridotGX]

So, do you like the direction Smash is taking with "Videogame All-Stars" instead of just "Nintendo All-Stars"? We're probably just in the beginning of the transition but we have 10 3rd party franchises currently (11 if you count Bayonetta).

Metal Gear
Sonic
Pac-Man
Megaman
Street Fighter
Final Fantasy
Castlevania
Persona
Dragon Quest
Banjo-Kazooie

Unpopular opinion, but I don't like it very much. I haven't played the games that the DLC newcomers have came from, and the same goes for the highly speculated ones.

 

[TheCJBrine]

If any non-videogame character were to ever actually be considered, I think Popeye would be among the most-likely.

 

[Venus of the Desert Bloom]

Mortal Kombat is banned from release in Japan. Japanese Steam doesn't even sell it.

I was mentioned about MK11 so I feel like bringing this up. MK11 didn’t see a Japanese “release” but it’s not banned from being sold online or by second tier game retailers (not places like TSUTAYA, Geo, or Yamada Denki). I have seen it at stores that specialize in selling all kinds of games, both domestic and foreign but are not considered one of the major chains.

https://item.rakuten.co.jp/uni-stage358/gaw03091switch/?scid=af_sp_etc&sc2id=af_113_0_10001868

You can get your hands on it. It’s just not in Japanese and was never officially released.

I would like to make mention that Japan’s censorship of ultra violent content shouldn’t be that surprising. Japan has a history of being wary torwards the entire otaku/gamer/hikikomori culture. You would think it wouldn’t but a string of horrific crimes and murders linked to such culture with often children being the victims has caused Japan to view this group with disdain. Case in point, there was a mass stabbing of kindergarten and elementary school kids waiting for a bus by a 50 year old something who was a hikikomori just about two months ago. It was extremely sad.

Having a product that is ultra violent in a system that’s popular with children isn’t probably going to fly with Japan. And that also goes for the other systems as well.

 

[Playstation Guy 1000]

I know post this a while ago and this is first and only time I'm repost one of my question post(I do not want to look like a spam poster) but with (again) the talk of non video games character debate I bring my 6th question post on who Most's likely(that isn't Goku)

Here's my 6th question
witch non video game character is the most likely(IF we ever get one that is)
(there's 3 options)
1:Hatsune Miku(Vocaloid)
2: Geralt of Rivia(The Witcher)
3:Kevin Keene(Captain N: The Game Master)

 

[Door Key Pig]

The confirmation that Eight was one of the four Hero alts chosen because he's the most well known hero of Dragon Quest in the west, definitely hurts the likes of Scorpion and Doom Guy IMO, becuase it definitely looks like the 3rd party DLC characters need to have some recognizably worldwide. So yeah, Crash is the most likely 2nd western character if there is another one IMO(I doubt there will be another Western character considering the difficulty Sakurai had with communicating with Grant Kirkhope for that remix).

TBF tho, if that was difficult to do with Grant then Crash doesn't have as much of a intrinsically-important (?) composer to his series they'd have to bother with. Josh Mancell isn't the only Crash music guy, and wasn't even brought back to do stuff for N. Sane Trilogy.

 

[Deleted member]

I know post this a while ago and this is first and only time I'm repost one of my question post(I do not want to look like a spam poster) but with (again) the talk of non video games character debate I bring my 6th question post on who Most's likely(that isn't Goku)

It really depends on the perception of the franchise by Nintendo and Sakurai.

Geralt is an interesting case as while he is a literary character, the games might bring a unique take of him that could be considered different than the books just like Dracula's interpretation in CV. And while I can think Geralt is closer to the book than Dracula is, at least I could see the case of the game interpretation different enough for it to be a valid videogame character. But alas, haven't played or read the books so I can't say how my hypothesis stands :b

Miku was explained earlier in regards that it depends how the vocaloid is seen and it could be a non-issue.

Anything Captain N related is more on the realms of not happening. Due to the fact that is a character strictly from a cartoon and one that is pretty much locked for the west for a long time.

And just as a bonus, Yokai Watch and Digimon are interesting cases as both series could be classified as multimedia franchises. While Digimon had an electronic pet, later they released both the game and the anime (dunno when the cards where released) and YW had a manga but their main focus is on the games overall. Pokemon on the other hand was a game that evolved into a multimedia franchise.

So in terms of how I would see about these guys in terms of my perception as game franchises YW >= Digimon > Miku > Geralt >>>>>>> Captain N

 

[AntagonisticGalaxyCetacea]

Why is it that Resident Evil is super likely to some people, yet Doom and Mortal Kombat aren't because they're too gory and not aimed for children? Even though they literally had to censor and edit deaths in RE4 and even RE7 in Japan? Japan is not a huge fan of ultraviolence, but that's not to say that it's completely banned and taboo. There are people who enjoy manga such as Berserk after all. Mortal Kombat had a poor footing in Japan also because it was dumped there without even being translated. Eventually it was ceased to be released in Japan due to the crazy amount of things NRS would have to censor. But Mortal Kombat X and Mortal Kombat 11 have very high reviews and imports via Amazon Japan and elsewhere.

When it comes to the gore, Scorpion appeared in Injustice, and so did Sub Zero and Raiden for Injustice 2, all without gore and they were completely fine. The ignorance towards Mortal Kombat's gore is quite silly. The crazy amounts of gore are only really present during fatalities, and Scorpion's famous fatality isn't even that gory which can easily translate into Smash (certain final smashes have you explode if you're at kill percentage for example)

It'd be a huge gamble to add Scorpion, but there's nothing saying that he's 100% disconfirmed. If Sakurai and Nintendo are aiming to include characters who are iconic and have some weight to them, there's nothing wrong with choosing Scorpion.

 

[TheYungLink]

Why is it that Resident Evil is super likely to some people, yet Doom and Mortal Kombat aren't because they're too gory and not aimed for children? Even though they literally had to censor and edit deaths in RE4 and even RE7 in Japan?

Easy. Unlike Doom and Mortal Kombat, Resident Evil is popular across both sides of the Pacific.

And, like with Doomguy, the gore doesn't need to be represented in their moveset for a RE character to feel like themselves, while not having Doomguy's disadvantage of lack of popularity in one part of the world.

 

[Deleted member]

Why is it that Resident Evil is super likely to some people, yet Doom and Mortal Kombat aren't because they're too gory and not aimed for children? Even though they literally had to censor and edit deaths in RE4 and even RE7 in Japan? Japan is not a huge fan of ultraviolence, but that's not to say that it's completely banned and taboo. There are people who enjoy manga such as Berserk after all. Mortal Kombat had a poor footing in Japan also because it was dumped there without even being translated. Eventually it was ceased to be released in Japan due to the crazy amount of things NRS would have to censor. But Mortal Kombat X and Mortal Kombat 11 have very high reviews and imports via Amazon Japan and elsewhere.

When it comes to the gore, Scorpion appeared in Injustice, and so did Sub Zero and Raiden for Injustice 2, all without gore and they were completely fine. The ignorance towards Mortal Kombat's gore is quite silly. The crazy amounts of gore are only really present during fatalities, and Scorpion's famous fatality isn't even that gory which can easily translate into Smash (certain final smashes have you explode if you're at kill percentage for example)

It'd be a huge gamble to add Scorpion, but there's nothing saying that he's 100% disconfirmed. If Sakurai and Nintendo are aiming to include characters who are iconic and have some weight to them, there's nothing wrong with choosing Scorpion.

RE is way bigger than both of them both in Japan and the rest of the word plus the gun issue is pretty much reduced thanks to Joker.

Main issue with Doom's popularity in Japan is that there are a lot of people there that suffer from motion sickness so it has failed to take off when compared to other FPS franchises that are slower, MK is pretty much gore and it gets dwarfed there by the local Fighting franchises like Tekken and SF.

 

[Megadoomer]

Unpopular opinion, but I don't like it very much. I haven't played the games that the DLC newcomers have came from, and the same goes for the highly speculated ones.

Play Banjo-Kazooie and Persona 5. Seriously, do that as soon as possible. Persona 5 is one of the best RPGs that I've ever played (it's up there with Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy 6, and Final Fantasy 7 for me), and Banjo-Kazooie is one of the best games that I've ever played. (I replayed it recently, and it holds up incredibly well)

I can't speak for which Dragon Quest game you should play, but I'm playing 8 right now and enjoying it.

 

[Michael the Spikester]

RE is way bigger than both of them both in Japan and the rest of the word plus the gun issue is pretty much reduced thanks to Joker.

Main issue with Doom's popularity in Japan is that there are a lot of people there that suffer from motion sickness so it has failed to take off when compared to other FPS franchises that are slower, MK is pretty much gore and it gets dwarfed there by the local Fighting franchises like Tekken and SF.

Its also an Japanese IP which helps being owned by among one of the best known video game companies known as Capcom.

 

[OrpheusTelos]

Honestly Geralt is a pretty... weird case when it comes to whether he could be classified as a video game character or not. Unlike the Castlevania monsters or the mythology franchises like Kid Icarus and Persona draw from, The Witcher books aren't in the public domain and are relatively recent, with the first book releasing in the 90s. Even before the video game trilogy, the books have been adapted to film and television (albiet those aren't considered very good adaptations, but they still happened), so it's not like the games are the only other piece of Witcher related media. But on the other hand, Megami Tensei also start as a series of novels and we ended up getting Joker, so I think there might be a case if the game adaptations are strongly associated with the franchise. I barely know anything about the Witcher books or games, but I know a lot of people strongly associate the series with the games, so ultimately it's up to Sakurai to decide if he considers the game incarnation of Geralt different enough from the book version to justify his inclusion

 

[Drunk Dog]

Sorry for asking but I don't really feel like searching through this thread to see when and why this discussion on Mortal Combat and Doom being highly possible DLC candidates sprouted from. Just wondering why this is such a huge conversation right now. Neither of those franchises really seem to match the aesthetic of smash, imo.