Official Newcomer/DLC Speculation Discussion

[Opossum]

Who the hell is B-K

Banjo-Kazooie.

I guess that would be an important distinction? How transformative is the video game to the character. It's not like Castelvania takes Bram Stoker's Dracula as a core point of it's world building. Functionally the Dracula in Castlevania takes the name from the fictional character but is purposefully at odds with a lot of the book.

Actually, according to the official timeline, Bram Stoker's Dracula novel is actually part of the Castlevania canon, funny enough.

 

[Nquoid]

Banjo-Kazooie.

Actually, according to the official timeline, Bram Stoker's Dracula novel is actually part of the Castlevania canon, funny enough.

Is it? I thought the only element in the games was the Morris family. Like how hasn't a Van Helsing shown up if Dracula is canon?!

 

[TheCJBrine]

It's less that it wouldn't do well, and more that like Fortnite, and a lot of games that pride themselves on being easily playable on a myriad of devices, a fairly large part of the player base would not have disposable income to pay for a full fighters pass. Obviously they might be able to convince a parent or guardian for just Steve, but I think Nintendo is angling for a fighters pass that will get the most people excited to buy the whole thing.

Conversely, most of Banjo's fanbase will be late 20s, early 30s at this point so will have control over their own finances and spending.

That makes sense, though I think Steve could still cause Minecraft’s older fans to get the whole pass if they haven’t already, even some younger fans.

Though of course since Minecraft is “newer,” I can see Nintendo going with this approach and finding it somewhat risky, wanting the most sales to be for the Pass itself.

But of course they’re also targeting fans and aren’t just selling whatever for big bucks so I don’t know how to explain or understand their full reasons.

 

[StormC]

That makes sense, though I think Steve could still cause Minecraft’s older fans to get the whole pass if they haven’t already, even some younger fans.

Though of course since Minecraft is “newer,” I can see Nintendo going with this approach and finding it somewhat risky, wanting the most sales to be for the Pass itself.

But of course they’re also targeting fans and aren’t just selling whatever for big bucks so I don’t know how to explain or understand their full reasons.

I just don't think they're that interested in capitalizing on Minecraft in Smash right now. It's not on their radar. If they were trying to cast the widest net possible in terms of popularity, recognizability and sales they wouldn't have Joker and Banjo-Kazooie on the Pass. To me it's pretty clear they are focusing on properties and characters mostly popular with older fans, while also hitting certain demographics/fanbases and strengthening relationships with certain companies. Sakurai might not even view Steve as "realizable" the same way he used to struggle with Villager. He might not view a playable Steve as the best way to represent Minecraft. Plus if they were to add only one Microsoft character to the Pass, they have data indicating Banjo was be far and away the most popular choice and one that would allow both Nintendo and Microsoft to get a ton of good PR.

 

[lordvaati]

As of this writing Minecraft is over a decade old so the "newer" distinction doesn't really apply anymore-it is now an established gaming IP.

 

[Godzillathewonderdog]

I wonder if they would add a Minecraft stage separate from the fighter pass.

 

[Guybrush20X6]

Here's a topic, what character(s) do you think the speculation scene is sleeping on?

IMO it's Billy and Jimmy Lee from Double Dragon. They were big NES starts, known in both America and Japan and represent a genre not yet represented by a playable character, the side scrolling beat-em-up.

 

[Godzillathewonderdog]

Here's a topic, what character(s) do you think the speculation scene is sleeping on?

IMO it's Billy and Jimmy Lee from Double Dragon. They were big NES starts, known in both America and Japan and represent a genre not yet represented by a playable character, the side scrolling beat-em-up.

I feel like there are other classic NES characters that should take priority. Ryu Hayabusa is definitely top of the list, but I think other characters like Bill and Lance from Contra and even Arthur from Ghosts ‘n Goblins should get in before Billy and Jimmy. And if we got a beat-em-up character I think Haggar from Final Fight would be a better choice.

 

[Michael the Spikester]

Here's a topic, what character(s) do you think the speculation scene is sleeping on?

IMO it's Billy and Jimmy Lee from Double Dragon. They were big NES starts, known in both America and Japan and represent a genre not yet represented by a playable character, the side scrolling beat-em-up.

Another I think is being slept on is Nakoruru especially if the whole female fighting character leak/rumor is to be true.

 

[YoshiandToad]

Here's a topic, what character(s) do you think the speculation scene is sleeping on?

IMO it's Billy and Jimmy Lee from Double Dragon. They were big NES starts, known in both America and Japan and represent a genre not yet represented by a playable character, the side scrolling beat-em-up.

If it wasn't for Square owning her I'd say Lara Croft.
Considering she's probably the biggest female icon in gaming, momentarily took over the entire planet with her series, pushed video game movies to a more acceptable mainstream level and simultaneously was the star of some of the most influential Action-Adventure genre games on the planet I'm really surprised she doesn't get brought up all that much.

Heck, she barely gets mentioned when people list Square characters at all. Geno, Sora, Erdrick, Chrono and Black Mage all seem to get brought up far more but honestly none of them have really managed what she has in terms of sheer video game hall of fame. Arguably Sora has reached that plateau now but his ascent was far more gradual IMO.

 

[Door Key Pig]

If Minecraft is more-likely for base game, I hope Steve gets in for the next Smash, with B-K coming back with him.

Sakurai seemed to have no problems other than being hesitant at first because of the language barrier, and even said he hopes the experience with all the B-K stuff is good for the future since “they” (NoJ I assume) don’t usually do things like this. I don’t think the characters being Western are a problem; both Minecraft and B-K have Eastern appeal, and while I’m sure Sakurai won’t want to do too much stuff with a language barrier, two or even three characters seems fine at the very least from how easy B-K was to get.

I’d like to say, though, I don’t get why y’all don’t think Minecraft would do well as DLC. A lot of adults like Minecraft and Minecraft in Smash is a very popular idea from what I’ve seen, even if people aren’t very vocal about it here (unless you’re me).

Maybe they had another Western IP in consideration for the pass around the same time they were negotiating or considering Banjo, and one that didn't have as much of a need for communicate with English creators specifically based on how his current ownership, and franchise production for the longest time, in no way includes them, and so they could tackle him much easier after getting the more difficult Banjo out of the way.

Someone who spins a lot and stuff...

 

[OrpheusTelos]

Here's a topic, what character(s) do you think the speculation scene is sleeping on?

IMO it's Billy and Jimmy Lee from Double Dragon. They were big NES starts, known in both America and Japan and represent a genre not yet represented by a playable character, the side scrolling beat-em-up.

Undertale as a franchise isn't taken as seriously as it should be in Smash speculation. Most of the discussion seems to default to the typical "haha funny Sans Undertale meme" when it arguably has the best chance out of any indie. Sure you could argue that if they wanted to add an indie they would've made Shovel Knight or Shantae playable, but Undertale had a larger cultural impact than either of those so a character from that game would make sense as the first playable indie character regardless of if it's Sans or Frisk.

 

[Leotsune]

Here's a topic, what character(s) do you think the speculation scene is sleeping on?

IMO it's Billy and Jimmy Lee from Double Dragon. They were big NES starts, known in both America and Japan and represent a genre not yet represented by a playable character, the side scrolling beat-em-up.

We already have enough NES retro characters.

 

[Deathcarter]

Here's a topic, what character(s) do you think the speculation scene is sleeping on?

IMO it's Billy and Jimmy Lee from Double Dragon. They were big NES starts, known in both America and Japan and represent a genre not yet represented by a playable character, the side scrolling beat-em-up.

Do classic beat-em-ups even qualify as an independent genre from whatever the Bayonetta games are? It would be like considering Super Mario World and Super Mario Galaxy as separate genres. Just nitpicking here.

 

[SMAASH! Puppy]

Undertale as a franchise isn't taken as seriously as it should be in Smash speculation. Most of the discussion seems to default to the typical "haha funny Sans Undertale meme" when it arguably has the best chance out of any indie. Sure you could argue that if they wanted to add an indie they would've made Shovel Knight or Shantae playable, but Undertale had a larger cultural impact than either of those so a character from that game would make sense as the first playable indie character regardless of if it's Sans or Frisk.

I still think Quote should be the first pick but in all honesty it probably doesn't matter.

Wonder how the general reaction would be to an Undertale character since the game fits into the "so popular people are starting to hate it" category.

Do classic beat-em-ups even qualify as an independent genre from whatever the Bayonetta games are? It would be like considering Super Mario World and Super Mario Galaxy as separate genres. Just nitpicking here.

Ahem: 2D Platformer (Super Mario World); 3D Platformer (Super Mario Galaxy). Subgenres yes, but they're so broad they might as well be genres in and of themselves.

EDIT: To make an actual argument on what you just asked, I would say that the classic 2D Beat-'em-ups are vastly different from the 3D ones like Devil May Cry.
EDIT EDIT: Still not happy with my argument. I may revise it later.

 

[Dust319]

Here's a topic, what character(s) do you think the speculation scene is sleeping on?

IMO it's Billy and Jimmy Lee from Double Dragon. They were big NES starts, known in both America and Japan and represent a genre not yet represented by a playable character, the side scrolling beat-em-up.

That’s one I hadn’t thought of. However, last I checked the Double Dragon series is a licensing nightmare; I’m not sure how easy it would be to secure their rights.

I’m still on the Ryu Hayabusa train, as I still think he has the best chance for Koei Tecmo.

I’m still expecting Nintendo to pull a generation 8 Pokémon out of a hat at some point.

 

[TheCJBrine]

I just don't think they're that interested in capitalizing on Minecraft in Smash right now. It's not on their radar. If they were trying to cast the widest net possible in terms of popularity, recognizability and sales they wouldn't have Joker and Banjo-Kazooie on the Pass. To me it's pretty clear they are focusing on properties and characters mostly popular with older fans, while also hitting certain demographics/fanbases and strengthening relationships with certain companies. Sakurai might not even view Steve as "realizable" the same way he used to struggle with Villager. He might not view a playable Steve as the best way to represent Minecraft. Plus if they were to add only one Microsoft character to the Pass, they have data indicating Banjo was be far and away the most popular choice and one that would allow both Nintendo and Microsoft to get a ton of good PR.

I can see them only caring about drawing in more fans. I guess I’m just interpreting the whole “demographics” thing wrong.

However, they could very well do the same with Minecraft. As said by lordvaati , it’s now a decade old, so really I shouldn’t have called it even “newer” I guess, as it has been greatly established and has plenty of fans young and old, also following Nintendo’s idea of broadening demographics with the Smash DLC; though I guess since Minecraft is on the Switch, they kinda already had that, however Smash could potentially attract a lot more than just a port.

It’s true: Sakurai may not find Steve to be realizable, but I don’t really like this kind of discussion. Fans have already made nice movesets and animations for Steve, even while keeping his stiff limbs, and I have no doubt Sakurai could as well. I really believe Banjo-Kazooie was Nintendo’s way of pleasing many longtime fans, making a whole lot of us happy, and not much (if anything) more than that. Steve and Minecraft could very well come next game; you could also say Sakurai will put more thought into this stuff, based on how he changed his mind with Villager, Pac-Man, and the Miis.

Maybe they had another Western IP in consideration for the pass around the same time they were negotiating or considering Banjo, and one that didn't have as much of a need for communicate with English creators specifically based on how his current ownership, and franchise production for the longest time, in no way includes them, and so they could tackle him much easier after getting the more difficult Banjo out of the way.

Someone who spins a lot and stuff...

Crash is cool, but I don’t see how he’d have anything to do with whether or not they’d get Minecraft; Sakurai already said Banjo-Kazooie were easy.

 

[YsDisciple]

Here's my random drop for the day.

Amidst the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate DLC speculation and theory discussion, a young-hot-blooded man approaches. Carrying the flag of Arc System Works, this roudy-slept-on-challenger is itching for some fisticuffs. The bad boy from the Famicom era, Kunio-kun arrives!

Spoiler: Kunio

Earlier this afternoon, somehow I got to checking out the River City Ransom (Kunio-Kun in Japan) games and thought this character quite interesting. True that he would fall under the "retro-character" category, but with its history with early Nintendo systems; the series being among the earliest of the beat-em-up genre, and his chibi design could make him a good "sleeper" contender for the Super Smash Bros. roster.

 

[Iridium]

Here's a topic, what character(s) do you think the speculation scene is sleeping on?

IMO it's Billy and Jimmy Lee from Double Dragon. They were big NES starts, known in both America and Japan and represent a genre not yet represented by a playable character, the side scrolling beat-em-up.

Ryu Hayabusa doesn't get a lot of talk from what I've seen. Koei Tecmo already has Fatal Frame rep in Smash, so it's at least possible to secure the rights to his inclusion. He already has a good history with appearing on Nintendo systems, and is likely the last major icon from the NES era left. While his own franchise is currently stuck in limbo for now, frequent appearances in Dead or Alive help keep him a relevant character regardless.

Not that he brings the most uniqueness to the table in terms of genres already in Smash, but Ninja Gaiden is at least notable for being an early example of the hack-and-slash style of gameplay present in franchises like Bayonetta, so it does hold influence.

 

[TheCJBrine]

Undertale as a franchise isn't taken as seriously as it should be in Smash speculation. Most of the discussion seems to default to the typical "haha funny Sans Undertale meme" when it arguably has the best chance out of any indie. Sure you could argue that if they wanted to add an indie they would've made Shovel Knight or Shantae playable, but Undertale had a larger cultural impact than either of those so a character from that game would make sense as the first playable indie character regardless of if it's Sans or Frisk.

Undertale also got its own spot in a Nintendo Direct instead of being put with the other indies in a Nindies Direct; same with Deltarune. I don’t get why it’s not taken as seriously as Shovel Knight and Shantae. I know Sans was memed a lot, but still.

I’m very carefree when it comes to memes and I really like some of them so maybe I’m just biased, but while I like the Sans memes I also really like him as a character and find the meme reasons against characters like him and Waluigi to be dumb when used as more than just opinions.

 

[Playstation Guy 1000]

Here's a topic, what character(s) do you think the speculation scene is sleeping on?

IMO it's Billy and Jimmy Lee from Double Dragon. They were big NES starts, known in both America and Japan and represent a genre not yet represented by a playable character, the side scrolling beat-em-up.

I'm pretty surprised Ryu hayabusa isn't mention as much as the other possible smash characters

 

[StormC]

I can see them only caring about drawing in more fans. I guess I’m just interpreting the whole “demographics” thing wrong.

However, they could very well do the same with Minecraft. As said by lordvaati , it’s now a decade old, so really I shouldn’t have called it even “newer” I guess, as it has been greatly established and has plenty of fans young and old, also following Nintendo’s idea of broadening demographics with the Smash DLC; though I guess since Minecraft is on the Switch, they kinda already had that, however Smash could potentially attract a lot more than just a port.

It’s true: Sakurai may not find Steve to be realizable, but I don’t really like this kind of discussion. Fans have already made nice movesets and animations for Steve, even while keeping his stiff limbs, and I have no doubt Sakurai could as well. I really believe Banjo-Kazooie was Nintendo’s way of pleasing many longtime fans, making a whole lot of us happy, and not much (if anything) more than that. Steve and Minecraft could very well come next game; you could also say Sakurai will put more thought into this stuff, based on how he changed his mind with Villager, Pac-Man, and the Miis.

I just don't think Sakurai views Steve as a "must have" character, as someone who would just get in because "Minecraft is big." The character itself has to be the reason to be in. Steve is a non-entity to people who aren't Minecraft fans. Even a Minecraft employee regarded him as an "empty shell." Nothing I've seen would lead me to believe Nintendo or Sakurai would think of Steve as this big character that's so obvious to put in Smash.

It's not about selling; the Fighters Pass could be a Goomba, Koopa, Blooper, Moblin, and Waddle Dee, and it would still sell well. That isn't the issue. It's about what Nintendo and Sakurai feel are valuable as characters in Smash, what the hardcore fans want (Banjo), what sort of new fanbases they could attract (PS4 owners with Joker, old school Japanese fans with Dragon Quest). That's not to say Steve could never be in Smash and he could very well be in the next game. But nothing has signaled to me that he's an obvious inclusion, or that Nintendo is particularly interested in synergy with the Minecraft brand. They seem perfectly content to let it do its own thing (and it's not like Minecraft is having trouble getting people to buy it). So I just don't see a real incentive.

 

[TheCJBrine]

I just don't think Sakurai views Steve as a "must have" character, as someone who would just get in because "Minecraft is big." The character itself has to be the reason to be in. Steve is a non-entity to people who aren't Minecraft fans. Even a Minecraft employee regarded him as an "empty shell." Nothing I've seen would lead me to believe Nintendo or Sakurai would think of Steve as this big character that's so obvious to put in Smash.

It's not about selling; the Fighters Pass could be a Goomba, Koopa, Blooper, Moblin, and Waddle Dee, and it would still sell well. That isn't the issue. It's about what Nintendo and Sakurai feel are valuable as characters in Smash, what the hardcore fans want (Banjo), what sort of new fanbases they could attract (PS4 owners with Joker, old school Japanese fans with Dragon Quest). That's not to say Steve could never be in Smash and he could very well be in the next game. But nothing has signaled to me that he's an obvious inclusion, or that Nintendo is particularly interested in synergy with the Minecraft brand. They seem perfectly content to let it do its own thing (and it's not like Minecraft is having trouble getting people to buy it). So I just don't see a real incentive.

Spoiler: long post

Many, many Minecraft fans know about Steve and like him, sometimes even using him in builds, and Steve in Smash videos get a whole lot of likes, one even reaching over 70k likes, and that’s just YouTube; a Minecraft subreddit post with Steve receiving a Smash invitation also got a lot of upvotes. Even some other games like Super Meat Boy used Steve or “Mr. Minecraft.” Mojang also acknowledges Steve and Alex by their names and have acknowledged Steve even sometime recently in one of their 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Minecraft videos, a positive thing about a lot of people dressing up as him; which a lot of people have done before, like at Minecon; he has his own Halloween costume among a bunch of other stuff and is recognizable like Mario or the AC Villager if we want to stick to avatars. Steve’s and Alex’s skins are named ingame on Bedrock Edition as well. Steve was also the main character in the 2011 Minecon trailer. He, Alex, and the Creeper are basically the faces of the game. I don’t know why you’re using one Minecraft employee as an example, especially when she seemed a bit trollish after her first few main tweets regarding the stuff, isn’t indicative of what other Minecraft employees think since it was her own opinion, doesn’t actually work on the game itself but is a head community manager, her first Steve/Smash tweet being a reply to direwolf20 who liked the idea and is known for always using a Steve skin, and she wanted a Minecraft Skeleton for Smash anyway. A Switch Edition developer even said he liked the idea of Steve or a Creeper in Smash; this info comes from the guy who asked the Steve in Smash question at Minecon last year.

Steve can easily be identified by non-fans even if they don’t know his name.

As for Nintendo themselves, they have shown some decent interest in Minecraft at the least, letting Mojang/whoever works on the console editions put a Mario Mashup Pack in the Nintendo console editions of the game (and Bedrock Edition when played on the Switch), having a Creeper 3DS, and using Steve and Alex in a page on their website that was for kids (some quiz or a question asking who you’d want to go on a trip with, the other characters all being Nintendo’s own).

Sakurai himself has even shown his love for the game in his article about it and another time about how he was wondering “what’s going on?” when its #1 spot on the eShop was overtaken in the West or somewhere; something he mentioned in his article could even be in a moveset if he thinks so. Steve being used to represent Minecraft can add the building aspect through a move, maybe crafting as well, and a bunch of different items unique to the game such as enderpearls. It’d really be no different than Animal Crossing when it comes to having a character, and I don’t understand why it’s treated like it is.

Steve can move his limbs in all directions, Sakurai can make new animations just like every other character since the ones in Minecraft aren’t really supposed to be ingrained into the characters aside from the stiffness since they’re all blocks, and they could give Steve personality through the animations and changes to the pixels on his face (so like making his eyes 2x2 instead of 2x1 when he gets launched or something) or look at the new Dungeons game for facial expressions (they can even make him blink the same way mobs do in Minecraft Earth). They could even use the old “Oof!” sound when he gets KOd or something, and use a female version for an Alex alt.

 

[StormC]

Sakurai himself has even shown his love for the game in his article about it and another time about how he was wondering “what’s going on?” when its #1 spot on the eShop was overtaken in the West or somewhere. Steve being used to represent Minecraft can add the building aspect through a move, maybe crafting as well, and a bunch of different items unique to the game such as enderpearls. It’d really be no different than Animal Crossing when it comes to having a character, and I don’t understand why it’s treated like it is.

Sakurai plays hundreds of games and writes about them endlessly, Minecraft isn't special in this regard.

Also, of course Minecraft fans love Steve. That doesn't mean he's a character that would necessarily be popular and well-received outside of Minecraft fans or Sakurai or Nintendo thinks he's worth putting in just because Minecraft is so popular. He is a character appealing to Minecraft fans... and that's about it. I don't think he's a character that is easy to "sell" and get people interested in if they don't play Minecraft.

Just because a game is popular doesn't necessarily mean its character is on their radar. I'm not saying Steve is never happening (although I have severe doubts he will make it on this DLC). But I'm not sure what your actual point is. If Minecraft fans want Steve in Smash, I doubt the ballot indicated that. What is Nintendo or Sakurai's incentive to put him in? Just because Minecraft is popular? I think they're looking for more than that.

If you want Steve in Smash, campaign your heart out for him, talk about him to everyone, keep requesting him. Go forth and conquer. But I don't see any reason to expect him as of now.

 

[TheCJBrine]

Sakurai plays hundreds of games and writes about them endlessly, Minecraft isn't special in this regard.

Also, of course Minecraft fans love Steve. That doesn't mean he's a character that would necessarily be popular and well-received outside of Minecraft fans or Sakurai or Nintendo thinks he's worth putting in just because Minecraft is so popular. He is a character appealing to Minecraft fans... and that's about it. I don't think he's a character that is easy to "sell" and get people interested in if they don't play Minecraft.

Just because a game is popular doesn't necessarily mean its character is on their radar. I'm not saying Steve is never happening (although I have severe doubts he will make it on this DLC). But I'm not sure what your actual point is. If Minecraft fans want Steve in Smash, I doubt the ballot indicated that. What is Nintendo or Sakurai's incentive to put him in? Just because Minecraft is popular? I think they're looking for more than that.

If you want Steve in Smash, campaign your heart out for him, talk about him to everyone, keep requesting him. Go forth and conquer. But I don't see any reason to expect him as of now.

Oh, I don’t expect him in this DLC, no.

My bad.

Though with all the other stuff I said I do believe he has a good shot for the base game in the next Smash. I was just confused a bit as to how he wouldn’t do well in DLC (I still didn’t expect him because we have B-K), but hey Nintendo themselves aren’t apart of the community so whatever they’re just going by how it’s been marketed alone just like Microsoft themselves thinking Minecon’s and their XBox Event’s bad actors appealed to the whole family (at least it seems better now if the Minecon Live trailer and their videos from the past months are any indication; oh please Mojang keep it good). I still fully believe Sakurai would find him “realizable.” I’m sure it also placed well on the Ballot if fans didn’t just think “meh it’ll happen anyway” or didn’t actually get the idea until it came to them later on.

 

[Ura]

Probably Isaac. European and American Tastes aren't that far away from each other with the exception of Geno beeing more of an American pick while golden sun was most popular in European countries.

Is it really? Golden Sun tends to sell better in North America than it does Europe.

Then again, I have heard from a lot of Europeans about their love for the game. I would say both regions are very supportive for the series. I just wish Japan would be one of them.

 

[Deleted member]

Here's a topic, what character(s) do you think the speculation scene is sleeping on?

IMO it's Billy and Jimmy Lee from Double Dragon. They were big NES starts, known in both America and Japan and represent a genre not yet represented by a playable character, the side scrolling beat-em-up.

I would say that one most slept on right now is Capcom in general, given that some people rationalize that they cant get more than 3 characters for a reason.

Among these I kinda feel that the discussion of Resident Evil is somewhat just downplayed if just because Doom seems to have the discussion focused on it right now due to BK making it in. Monster Hunter is another one a lot of people seem to have given up on it due to Rathalos being in the game. Ammy is a fan favorite across the developers at Capcom so much that they have ported Okami multiple times. Dante is seemingly disconfirmed but is a great choice given Bayo is already in.

Apart from Capcom, I would say the Dragonborn from Skyrim. Given its a game with great popularity worldwide and its a Western RPG which is something not seen in Smash yet.

 

[Playstation Guy 1000]

My 7th question
Who's the Most likely EA rep for smash dlc

 

[Rie Sonomura]

Here's a topic, what character(s) do you think the speculation scene is sleeping on?

IMO it's Billy and Jimmy Lee from Double Dragon. They were big NES starts, known in both America and Japan and represent a genre not yet represented by a playable character, the side scrolling beat-em-up.

KOS-MOS in terms of a Namco rep. Everyone’s main go to is either Nightmare or Lloyd Irving.

I guess in terms of Tales characters, Yuri Lowell is slept on too. Also, Neku Sakuraba should we get a third Square Enix rep

 

[SirCamp]

At this point I think the most likely characters would be amongst a Resident Evil character, Crash, Tales character, and possibly Ryun Hayabusa. Nothing groundbreaking here, but mostly I just don’t think DOOM is likely at all personally.

As for overlooked characters I would echo potentially an Undertale character as much as I don’t personally care too much. I waaaant to say Story of Seasons but even I don’t think that’s likely. I guess my other real answer would be any first party character. The trend seems to be 3rd party characters, but I could absolutely see one first party tacked on at the end.

 

[TheYungLink]

Yeah if any third-party company is getting characters from more than 3 playable series, it's gonna be Capcom. Their pedigree is incredible and I wouldn't be surprised if both of the remaining spots on the Fighter's Pass are from Capcom.

 

[StormC]

My only hesitation with Ryu Hayabusa is he has some visual overlap with Joker, being a dark-clothed knife-using fighter associated with sneaking. I know that's a really superficial thing to hold against a character, but I dunno, gut feeling. I suppose they could at least use his NES design with the blue outfit.

 

[GoodGrief741]

My 7th question
Who's the Most likely EA rep for smash dlc

Nobody.

My only hesitation with Ryu Hayabusa is he has some visual overlap with Joker, being a dark-clothed knife-using fighter associated with sneaking. I know that's a really superficial thing to hold against a character, but I dunno, gut feeling. I suppose they could at least use his NES design with the blue outfit.

I think he would 100% have his blue outfit. The question is whether he'd have his modern design as an alt.

 

[KillerCage]

My only hesitation with Ryu Hayabusa is he has some visual overlap with Joker, being a dark-clothed knife-using fighter associated with sneaking. I know that's a really superficial thing to hold against a character, but I dunno, gut feeling. I suppose they could at least use his NES design with the blue outfit.

I recall Hayabusa having a sword which separate him from Shiek and Greninja. I don't remember being stealthy in any of his games; he's more flashy, similar to Naruto.


I think I just insulted Ninja Gaiden fans.

 

[Idon]

I recall Hayabusa having a sword which separate him from Shiek and Greninja. I don't remember being stealthy in any of his games; he's more flashy, similar to Naruto.


I think I just insulted Ninja Gaiden fans.

Nah you're right. Hayabusa goes stealth for about .2 seconds before he bisects a dude and summons a giant flame dragon.

 

[Godzillathewonderdog]

My only hesitation with Ryu Hayabusa is he has some visual overlap with Joker, being a dark-clothed knife-using fighter associated with sneaking. I know that's a really superficial thing to hold against a character, but I dunno, gut feeling. I suppose they could at least use his NES design with the blue outfit.

Eh, stealth has never been utilized in Ninja Gaiden and Ryu has never fought with a knife as far as I’m aware. And aside from both characters wearing mostly all black there aren’t any visual similarities between the two.

 

[Deleted member]

My only hesitation with Ryu Hayabusa is he has some visual overlap with Joker, being a dark-clothed knife-using fighter associated with sneaking. I know that's a really superficial thing to hold against a character, but I dunno, gut feeling. I suppose they could at least use his NES design with the blue outfit.

I mean using that logic i could compare Joker with Bayonetta. An agile gun-wielding combo oriented dark colored character. Hell Ryu is a character from the Hack N Slash genre, and he could very well be a combo based character like Bayo (Ninja Gaiden 3 was originally funded by Nintendo before going Multiplat so that right there is another similarity to Bayo)

I recall Hayabusa having a sword which separate him from Shiek and Greninja. I don't remember being stealthy in any of his games; he's more flashy, similar to Naruto.


I think I just insulted Ninja Gaiden fans.

Honestly i don't think overlap is that much of an issue. In a roster of over 50 characters, there's bound to be some that resemble more than others (and i don't mean clones or echoes, i mean character concepts, looks and ideas) if anything the fact that Ryu is based upon ideas that Sakurai has toyed with (agile combo character, Ninja motif, etc) means that he could very well revisit the Ninja concept since he loves revisiting old ideas and giving them a new spin (City Trial to Smash Run for example) and Ryu has every merit possible for a guest EXCEPT beign campaigned by the Smash Hardcore Community like Mega Man was (but then again neither was Simon, at least not in a vocal manner)

 

[N3ON]

Is it really? Golden Sun tends to sell better in North America than it does Europe.

Then again, I have heard from a lot of Europeans about their love for the game. I would say both regions are very supportive for the series. I just wish Japan would be one of them.

Well, North America is definitely the largest market, so it provided the most sales, but per capita I have heard, anecdotally - mind you, that Golden Sun is the most popular both in Europe, and also seemingly in Latin America. The few Smash polls conducted regionally tend to back this up, but I don't have any on hand, unfortunately. Plus he gets a different name in basically every language... so that's fun to keep track of.

Following those two general regions I guess the US & Canada would be next, with Japan trailing noticeably behind. Though not to the extent he won't show up on popularity polls there, he'd just be lower.

(Sorry Aus & NZ & everyone else, no idea about you lot)

 

[Deleted member]

Here's a topic, what character(s) do you think the speculation scene is sleeping on?

Usually when I think of characters that are getting slept on, it's those who either have a rather inactive support thread or don't have 1 at all.

-Ryu Hayabusa's name has been around a few leaks that got some traction, but even when they've been debunked, he's hardly ever talked about when you compare all the other names that were on the same leaks (Erdrick, Steve, Doom Slayer, Banjo-Kazooie, Artorias, etc.).

-Nightmare is overlooked around the speculation scene because there's a bigger presence in support for other Bandai Namco characters (most specifically characters from Tales and Tekken). I'd go so far as to say there's more vocal people on Klonoa, KOS-MOS, and a Digimon Monster than there are for any Soulcalibur character combined.

-There's no support threads for any character from Dynasty Warriors or Samurai Warriors. It's only been until recently that we've been discussing the possibility of Musou representation in Smash.

-Even for Indie games, hardly anyone seems to think about Dead Cells. That game won Action Game of the Year at the Game Awards, and while the Fighter Pass was finalized a month before, it does show that Dead Cells is very popular. While I've never played Dead Cells, I do question why Dead Cells is hardly looked at as the potential Indie rep.

Almost all of them are my most wanted newcomers for Smash, but in a weird way, I sorta like the aspect that they aren't mentioned too often. I don't really have an explanation as to why that is, but there's something about it that makes it feel a lot more special if 1 of them do get revealed someday.

 

[StormC]

For the record Hayabusa would be great in Smash. I just wonder if Sakurai would think about that sort of visual variety for two different DLC characters.

I'll take Hayabusa just for a remix of 4-2: