Official Newcomer/DLC Speculation Discussion

[Dinoman96]

Last time we got Joker from Persona 5, who doesn't fit that bill.

Persona does appeal to the west, though

It was literally a GOTY candidate back in 2017 lol

 

[SharkLord]

It's not like he's completely wrong.
If anything Nintendo is "for all the family". That's the best way to describe it IMO.

Also I'm guessing part of his statement comes from the fact that Yakuza 1 & 2 HD sold poorly on the Wii U. But at the same time the Wii U wasn't really succesful, and said release of Yakuza 1 and 2 were Japan only as far as I know.

He also initially thought Yakuza wasn't going to appeal to the Western audience and here we are. Maybe he will change his mind in the future but yeah, unless he's trolling or something, which wouldn't surprise me because of how he acts, I'm not expecting them to put Yakuza games on the Switch any time soon.

Oof, doesn't look very good for Kiryu. First they don't want him in fighting games, then they don't think his games are suited to the Switch. You could wiggle around with some technicalities if you tried, but I don't think he's in a good spot.

I suppose Arle's the new frontrunner now. Let's talk Puyo Puyo.

 

[SNEKeater]

Oof, doesn't look very good for Kiryu. First they don't want him in fighting games, then they don't think his games are suited to the Switch. You could wiggle around with some technicalities if you tried, but I don't think he's in a good spot.

I suppose Arle's the new frontrunner now. Let's talk Puyo Puyo.

Yeah, maybe we need more info but it's true that so far it doesn't look great for Kiryu. Though it wasn't about "we don't want Kiryu in fighting games", it was more about Kiryu attacking female characters and all, which seems like something Nagoshi wouldn't like.

At this point it's hard to tell. Assuming Nintendo approaches Sega and asks for Kiryu, would Sega accept even if Nagoshi isn't happy about the idea? Nagoshi is an important figure in Sega and he's the creator of Yakuza, but other executives might push for Kiryu in Smash (or any other fighting game) if the opportunity appears even if Nagoshi doesn't agree.

About Arle, she looks cool in my book so I'd be cool with her, though I haven't played Puyo Puyo so I don't know much about her.

 

[7NATOR]

Oof, doesn't look very good for Kiryu. First they don't want him in fighting games, then they don't think his games are suited to the Switch. You could wiggle around with some technicalities if you tried, but I don't think he's in a good spot.

I suppose Arle's the new frontrunner now. Let's talk Puyo Puyo.

Do you think Sakurai and Nintendo had to choose between Joker and Arle for new Sega character? If so, do you think there could have been plans to Have Puyo Puyo later on in FP2?

 

[Perkilator]

Oof, doesn't look very good for Kiryu. First they don't want him in fighting games, then they don't think his games are suited to the Switch. You could wiggle around with some technicalities if you tried, but I don't think he's in a good spot.

I suppose Arle's the new frontrunner now. Let's talk Puyo Puyo.

If Kiryu's deconfirmed for good, shouldn't Sakura Shinguji still be a frontrunner as well?

 

[spicynun]

I would love Arle in smash. Would be nice to get another puzzle rep in addition to Dr. Mario.

 

[SharkLord]

If Kiryu's deconfirmed for good, shouldn't Sakura Shinguji still be a frontrunner as well?

I'd say she's second in line. Sakura Wars is mind-blowingly huge in Japan, but it's pretty obscure in the West, even if Sega's slowly making an effort to rectify that. Puyo Puyo has a more consistent level of popularity worldwide, so I think Arle has a clearer path.

 

[Aerospherology]

I was born in 2001 (8 days after Melee released in the US!), yet most of my wanted characters now are from the 90's.
Isn't that strange?

 

[Rie Sonomura]

I was born in 2001 (8 days after Melee released in the US!), yet most of my wanted characters now are from the 90's.
Isn't that strange?

I might be the polar opposite of you, I was a 90’s kid but most of my wanted characters are from the 2000s & 2010s

 

[Cosmic77]

Honestly, I'd be more surprised if we got another Sega character than I would if we didn't.

Obviously it could happen, but a majority of the best options have a significantly smaller presence outside Japan than a lot of other third-parties we could get. At this point, it feels like the main purpose would be specifically adding another Sega franchise.

 

[Speed Weed]

Oof, doesn't look very good for Kiryu. First they don't want him in fighting games, then they don't think his games are suited to the Switch. You could wiggle around with some technicalities if you tried, but I don't think he's in a good spot.

this has not been a good time

 

[SNEKeater]

I might be the polar opposite of you, I was a 90’s kid but most of my wanted characters are from the 2000s & 2010s

I was going to say the same except for the 2010 part

I wouldn't say it's that strange, Aerospherology . Not for me at least lol

 

[SharkLord]

View attachment 294391
this has not been a good time

Spoiler: You can probably guess what's under here

baka mitai kodomo na no ne
yume wo otte kizu tsuite
uso ga heta na kuse ni
waraenai egao miseta

I LOVE YOU mo roku ni iwanai
kuchibeta de honma ni bukiyou
na no ni na no ni dou****e
sayonara wa ieta no

dame da ne
dame yo dame na no yo
anta ga suki de suki sugite
dore dake tsuyoi osake de mo
yugamanai omoide ga
baka mitai

baka mitai hontou baka ne
anta shinjiru bakari de
tsuyoi onna no furi
setsunasa no yokaze abiru

hitori ni natte san-nen ga sugi
machinami sae mo kawarima****a
na no ni na no ni dou****e
miren dake okizari

honma ni roku na otoko ya nai
soroi no yubiwa hazushimasu
zamaa miro seisei suru wa
ii kagen mattete mo
baka mitai

dame da ne
dame yo dame na no yo
anta ga suki de suki sugite
dore dake tsuyoi osake de mo
yugamanai omoide ga
baka mitai

honma ni roku na otoko ya nai
soroi no yubiwa hazushimasu
zamaa miro seisei suru wa
nan na no yo kono namida
baka mitai

 

[chocolatejr9]

Spoiler: You can probably guess what's under here

baka mitai kodomo na no ne
yume wo otte kizu tsuite
uso ga heta na kuse ni
waraenai egao miseta

I LOVE YOU mo roku ni iwanai
kuchibeta de honma ni bukiyou
na no ni na no ni dou****e
sayonara wa ieta no

dame da ne
dame yo dame na no yo
anta ga suki de suki sugite
dore dake tsuyoi osake de mo
yugamanai omoide ga
baka mitai

baka mitai hontou baka ne
anta shinjiru bakari de
tsuyoi onna no furi
setsunasa no yokaze abiru

hitori ni natte san-nen ga sugi
machinami sae mo kawarima****a
na no ni na no ni dou****e
miren dake okizari

honma ni roku na otoko ya nai
soroi no yubiwa hazushimasu
zamaa miro seisei suru wa
ii kagen mattete mo
baka mitai

dame da ne
dame yo dame na no yo
anta ga suki de suki sugite
dore dake tsuyoi osake de mo
yugamanai omoide ga
baka mitai

honma ni roku na otoko ya nai
soroi no yubiwa hazushimasu
zamaa miro seisei suru wa
nan na no yo kono namida
baka mitai

Y'know you could've just linked the video, right?

 

[Speed Weed]

Spoiler: You can probably guess what's under here

baka mitai kodomo na no ne
yume wo otte kizu tsuite
uso ga heta na kuse ni
waraenai egao miseta

I LOVE YOU mo roku ni iwanai
kuchibeta de honma ni bukiyou
na no ni na no ni dou****e
sayonara wa ieta no

dame da ne
dame yo dame na no yo
anta ga suki de suki sugite
dore dake tsuyoi osake de mo
yugamanai omoide ga
baka mitai

baka mitai hontou baka ne
anta shinjiru bakari de
tsuyoi onna no furi
setsunasa no yokaze abiru

hitori ni natte san-nen ga sugi
machinami sae mo kawarima****a
na no ni na no ni dou****e
miren dake okizari

honma ni roku na otoko ya nai
soroi no yubiwa hazushimasu
zamaa miro seisei suru wa
ii kagen mattete mo
baka mitai

dame da ne
dame yo dame na no yo
anta ga suki de suki sugite
dore dake tsuyoi osake de mo
yugamanai omoide ga
baka mitai

honma ni roku na otoko ya nai
soroi no yubiwa hazushimasu
zamaa miro seisei suru wa
nan na no yo kono namida
baka mitai

Really, the only good thing about this whole ordeal is that the reasonings are funny and it gives me a convenient excuse to go back to shilling Axel

 

[SharkLord]

Y'know you could've just linked the video, right?

Yes, hypothetically speaking I could have just linked the song.

However, I felt like going to the wiki and copypasting the entire thing instead. So that's what I did.

 

[cashregister9]

Y'all are still sleeping on Sakura Shinguji and/or Amamiya. 2 games were localized, that is the exact same amount of Games that Joker had localized when he got in. EDIT: **** I forgot about the dancing game but so did everyone else

 

[chocolatejr9]

Yes, hypothetically speaking I could have just linked the song.

However, I felt like going to the wiki and copypasting the entire thing instead. So that's what I did.

Fair enough. Though you could've at least copied the English lyrics as well.

 

[I.D.]

I have to point out Nagoshi gave a similar reason for why Sakura Taisen didn't come to the Switch. You might want a Sakura deconfirmation with that Kiryu one, if you insist on looking at it that way.

 

[chocolatejr9]

I have to point out Nagoshi gave a similar reason for why Sakura Taisen didn't come to the Switch. You might want a Sakura deconfirmation with that Kiryu one, if you insist on looking at it that way.

Welp, I guess Arle is the only one after all.

Am I doing the joke right?

 

[Hydreigonfan01]

Spoiler: You can probably guess what's under here

baka mitai kodomo na no ne
yume wo otte kizu tsuite
uso ga heta na kuse ni
waraenai egao miseta

I LOVE YOU mo roku ni iwanai
kuchibeta de honma ni bukiyou
na no ni na no ni dou****e
sayonara wa ieta no

dame da ne
dame yo dame na no yo
anta ga suki de suki sugite
dore dake tsuyoi osake de mo
yugamanai omoide ga
baka mitai

baka mitai hontou baka ne
anta shinjiru bakari de
tsuyoi onna no furi
setsunasa no yokaze abiru

hitori ni natte san-nen ga sugi
machinami sae mo kawarima****a
na no ni na no ni dou****e
miren dake okizari

honma ni roku na otoko ya nai
soroi no yubiwa hazushimasu
zamaa miro seisei suru wa
ii kagen mattete mo
baka mitai

dame da ne
dame yo dame na no yo
anta ga suki de suki sugite
dore dake tsuyoi osake de mo
yugamanai omoide ga
baka mitai

honma ni roku na otoko ya nai
soroi no yubiwa hazushimasu
zamaa miro seisei suru wa
nan na no yo kono namida
baka mitai

Spoiler: You already know what's going to be behind here too

We're no strangers to love
You know the rules and so do I
A full commitment's what I'm thinking of
You wouldn't get this from any other guy

I just wanna tell you how I'm feeling
Gotta make you understand

Never gonna give you up
Never gonna let you down
Never gonna run around and desert you
Never gonna make you cry
Never gonna say goodbye
Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you

We've known each other for so long
Your heart's been aching but you're too shy to say it
Inside we both know what's been going on
We know the game and we're gonna play it

And if you ask me how I'm feeling
Don't tell me you're too blind to see

Never gonna give you up
Never gonna let you down
Never gonna run around and desert you
Never gonna make you cry
Never gonna say goodbye
Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you
Never gonna give you up
Never gonna let you down
Never gonna run around and desert you
Never gonna make you cry
Never gonna say goodbye
Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you

(Ooh, give you up)
(Ooh, give you up)
(Ooh) Never gonna give, never gonna give (Give you up)
(Ooh) Never gonna give, never gonna give (Give you up)

We've known each other for so long
Your heart's been aching but you're too shy to say it
Inside we both know what's been going on
We know the game and we're gonna play it

I just wanna tell you how I'm feeling
Gotta make you understand

Never gonna give you up
Never gonna let you down
Never gonna run around and desert you
Never gonna make you cry
Never gonna say goodbye
Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you
Never gonna give you up
Never gonna let you down
Never gonna run around and desert you
Never gonna make you cry
Never gonna say goodbye
Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you
Never gonna give you up
Never gonna let you down
Never gonna run around and desert you
Never gonna make you cry
Never gonna say goodbye
Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you

 

[Cutie Gwen]

Fair enough. Though you could've at least copied the English lyrics as well.

No thank you we already have 2 sets of Greg Chun voice clips we don't need him singing alongside it. Now, if Matt Mercer had to sing 24 Hour Cinderella, that'd be different

 

[SharkLord]

Y'all are still sleeping on Sakura Shinguji and/or Amamiya. 2 games were localized, that is the exact same amount of Games that Joker had localized when he got in.

To be fair, Joker debuted in 2016 and had the majority of his games localized. The vast majority of Sakura Wars has remained in Japan, and so her popularity in the West is pretty small. Sure, Puyo Puyo has had a similar history of remaining Japan-exclusive, but it's had more time to properly break out into the Western market.

 

[7NATOR]

So, Do you guys think we'll get a Sega character at all in this Fighter Pass, or not?

 

[SharkLord]

I have to point out Nagoshi gave a similar reason for why Sakura Taisen didn't come to the Switch. You might want a Sakura deconfirmation with that Kiryu one, if you insist on looking at it that way.

Source?

 

[cashregister9]

I have to point out Nagoshi gave a similar reason for why Sakura Taisen didn't come to the Switch. You might want a Sakura deconfirmation with that Kiryu one, if you insist on looking at it that way.

Nagoshi is not the director or producer of Sakura Wars, I'm not sure what you're getting at here. Team Ryu Ga Gotoku did work on some Sidequests for the new Sakura Wars but the producer actually wanted the new game on Switch.

 

[MooMew64]

I wanted to have my thoughts on a TGA reveal be in a larger post for who I think the final four of the pass are, but given it's happening earlier in the week than I thought (I thought it was Saturday, turns out it's Thursday. Oops!), I'll just post my thoughts now:

Spoiler: The Game Awards: Will Smash Show Up? Will Nintendo have any kind of Major Presence There?

The Game Awards is this upcoming Thursday, and with it will inevitably come new video game reveals. A popular theory going around here lately has been that Nintendo will announce Fighter #8 given the timing of the event, it's major industry presence when it comes to reveals and audience, and the fact we have had it happen previously with Joker back before the game launched in 2018.

In my full, honest opinion...I don't really see it happening again. I feel personally that Fighter #8 will be handled similar to Byleth and be launched in late January with an early January announcement to have some content to start the new year off with. Not to mention we have multiple insiders who have said that Nintendo's 2020 schedule is pretty much spent at this point and not to expect anything major until next year: If I had to wager, I'd say Age of Calamity was Nintendo's last major push for content this year and December will probably be pretty quiet. Honestly, if last year is any indication, I'm doubting Nintendo will have a major presence at TGA this year. I think Joker really well and truly was a happy coincidence: Nintendo needed to announce the first fighter to get pre-sales of the Fighter's Pass going, and TGA was being held the night before Ultimate's release. Seeing as Joker was a one time thing so far, it makes me hesitant to say there's any real pattern here to reliably draw from. All we really have is "They did it once, maybe they'll do it again?", and that's not strong enough evidence for me to bank on anything here, personally.

However, that's not to say it absolutely can't happen: The fact that there is some potential evidence that Byleth was planned for TGA last year (loose and circumstantial evidence, might I add), I do take some pause in completely throwing out the possibility of this year having a reveal. I think what will really cinch it for me are the industry insiders. Smash characters have consistently been leaking prior to events happening lately, and with the lack of a character being at TGA last year leaking thanks to Jon over at GameXplain's "No Dash" comment, I see no reason why this instance would be any different: If there is a character at TGA, we will know beforehand. I'm personally giving up on the idea of a reveal if nothing starts cropping up in the late morning of the event.

Now to wait and see how poorly this ages.

 

[I.D.]

Nagoshi is not the director or producer of Sakura Wars, I'm not sure what you're getting at here. Team Ryu Ga Gotoku did work on some Sidequests for the new Sakura Wars but the producer actually wanted the new game on Switch.

Nagoshi isn't just the Yakuza guy. He's an important higher-up at Sega. He gets to call a lot of shots. For Sakura Taisen in particular he was involved in the development.

『新サクラ大戦』に『龍が如く7』！ 2020年に向けて飛躍するセガゲームスの取り組みを名越氏に訊く【電撃PS】

年末から2020年にかけて、話題性抜群のタイトルが目白押しのセガゲームス。それらを統括する立場の名越稔洋氏に、セガゲームとしての取り組みをうかがいました。

dengekionline.com

I don't think a translated version of that interview exists so this is the best you're gonna get about the part that is relevant: https://www.resetera.com/threads/me...20-apr-20-apr-26.194862/page-18#post-33018987

Basically the same tripe about powerful home consoles (ie not Switch) being for "graduated gamers" and some insanity about handhelds disappearing.
The fact that you pointed out that the producer apparently wanted the game on Switch but ultimately couldn't do it just reinforces my point.

 

[Evil Trapezium]

So, Do you guys think we'll get a Sega character at all in this Fighter Pass, or not?

Streets of Rage 4 is nominated this year so Axel Stone, here we come!

 

[KneeOfJustice99]

latest announcement in the game awards
dr mario, bowser, peach, zelda, sheik, ganondorf, young link, pichu, mewtwo, ice climbers, mr game and watch, falco, marth and roy will be removed from super smash bros ultimate. this is an official leak from my dad at nintendo. he also said 'screw melee', but i think that's unrelated

 

[SNEKeater]

A clarification on Nagoshi's words I found on Reset Era that does a good job explaining the context

Disappointing how few people read the context of the quote. This statement is not meant to come off as "We will never release adult oriented games on Nintendo hardware"; it is meant to reference how Nintendo themselves market their platforms, specifically in the early GameCube era. He has said the Yakuza series was intended to be almost exclusively for male gamers, yet in Japan SEGA themselves said the fanbase is 'around 80% women' now. Development intentions and marketing potential are different aspects of game design.

I can assure everyone here that the failure of the Wii U Yakuza release is something Ryu ga Gotoku Studio got over immediately. If anything the collapse of Hero Bank (a media franchise that had a heavy Nintendo 3DS focus) is what really disappointed them. Era's fascination with how much Nagoshi must hate Nintendo is absolutely pathetic, especially when he himself has said Super Mario is his favorite game franchise ever and is also what inspired him to enter the business period.

Do people here even know he has partial control over Shin Megami Tensei V's release? He even has a lot of say in games like Bayonetta 2 and 3. Every product under SEGA and Atlus IP goes through him at some point.

Yakuza series creator Toshihiro Nagoshi says Nintendo Switch is "hardware for kids and teens" [up: taken out of context, see threadmark]

Disappointing how few people read the context of the quote. This statement is not meant to come off as "We will never release adult oriented games on Nintendo hardware"; it is meant to reference how Nintendo themselves market their platforms, specifically in the early GameCube era. He has said...

www.resetera.com

 

[dream1ng]

A clarification on Nagoshi's words I found on Reset Era that does a good job explaining the context

Yakuza series creator Toshihiro Nagoshi says Nintendo Switch is "hardware for kids and teens" [up: taken out of context, see threadmark]

Disappointing how few people read the context of the quote. This statement is not meant to come off as "We will never release adult oriented games on Nintendo hardware"; it is meant to reference how Nintendo themselves market their platforms, specifically in the early GameCube era. He has said...

www.resetera.com

I know you didn't write it, but this statement makes a lot of assumptions on opinion, potentially dubious claims and strange leaps on context from what seems to be a user who wouldn't be any more informed than anyone else on the matter.

I watched the relevant part of the interview. Nagoshi's saying that, to use his (translated) words, "even now" Nintendo is hardware for kids and teens, but during the Gamecube era they were especially going after kids, which is why he thought Super Monkey Ball "would suit" the platform.

If anything, the statement shows his opinion hasn't wavered much.

Plus, if you go to the link in the OP, there's another statement from a different producer at Sega who described Yakuza's performance on the Wii U a "disaster". I'm not inclined to inherently believe they didn't let that color their view of future titles on the platform. Just because Nagoshi oversees a large amount of products doesn't mean he has final say over where each ends up. I mean that post lists Bayo 2 and 3, which wouldn't even have happened without Nintendo's financial intervention.

I'm not saying I agree with Nagoshi. I think highly popular series in Japan + highly popular system in Japan = very many profits that they're leaving on the table, even with its older skewing audience (that is 80% women? which I kinda doubt, but if true, that even furthers why Switch would be a good fit because it has a proportionally high female demographic) but I think the quoted post is reaching.

If Kiryu's deconfirmed for good, shouldn't Sakura Shinguji still be a frontrunner as well?

If a character with seemingly better odds gets deconfirmed, another character from that company doesn't automatically inherit those odds.

If your inclusion is hampered by pretty sizeable factors, such as relative obscurity in most of the world, you're not going to be considered a frontrunner.

 

[Professor Pumpkaboo]

I would love Arle in smash. Would be nice to get another puzzle rep in addition to Dr. Mario.

coughs in Professor Layton

 

[LiveStudioAudience]

The only thing I'm getting out of this is that given the Switch's appeal and numbers (to kids and teenagers included) Nagoshi's a fool if he's not working to put out a brand new Monkey Ball game for the platform right now.

 

[SharkLord]

Fair enough. Though you could've at least copied the English lyrics as well.

Yeah, but the Japanese version has a higher meme value

 

[SharkLord]

Nagoshi isn't just the Yakuza guy. He's an important higher-up at Sega. He gets to call a lot of shots. For Sakura Taisen in particular he was involved in the development.

『新サクラ大戦』に『龍が如く7』！ 2020年に向けて飛躍するセガゲームスの取り組みを名越氏に訊く【電撃PS】

年末から2020年にかけて、話題性抜群のタイトルが目白押しのセガゲームス。それらを統括する立場の名越稔洋氏に、セガゲームとしての取り組みをうかがいました。

dengekionline.com

I don't think a translated version of that interview exists so this is the best you're gonna get about the part that is relevant: https://www.resetera.com/threads/me...20-apr-20-apr-26.194862/page-18#post-33018987

Basically the same tripe about powerful home consoles (ie not Switch) being for "graduated gamers" and some insanity about handhelds disappearing.
The fact that you pointed out that the producer apparently wanted the game on Switch but ultimately couldn't do it just reinforces my point.

Maybe I'm just bad at connecting the dots, but I can't seem to figure it out. The gist of it seems to be that Sakura Wars is primarily a console game, and the handheld market is on a decline. The most I can see is a note about how the Switch Lite was released recently at the time of writing. Also, apparently the guy wants people to hear that Sakura Wars is "interesting" (Though chances are something got lost in the translation).

Also, this.

Thanks, Google Translate.

 

[RileyXY1]

I am somewhat concerned if Fortnite does get in, because it would mean that 5/8 Fighter Pass characters would have debuted in the 2010s, including all of FP2 at that point (I count Steve as a 2010s character because All-Star Mode lists him as debuting in 2011, the year the 1.0 version of Minecraft was released). It would also mean that we would get four 2010s characters in a row, with the last character so far debuting earlier than 2010 being Terry Bogard.

 

[Commander_Alph]

I felt like I have a sneaking suspicion that the whole 'he don't hit woman' thing is to avoid any particular mentioned about him outside his own series cause of NDA, I mean remember that one time the Puyo Puyo producer thought it wouldn't be fitting for the Puyo cast to have a fighting game cause of "violence in the Puyo world doesn't allowed" only to get debunked when he express gratitude if it's represented in Smash?

 

[metalhydra273]

I feel like Arle's been kinda slept on as a significant front runner for a while now. Everyone kinda wrote her off for Kiryu and I never really understood that, especially since Nintendo calls the shots on the characters and if they had to choose between the two I'd be hard pressed they pick Kiryu. In terms of popularity Yakuza certainly has the upper hand worldwide, but Puyo is rather big in Japan and was very significant in shaping the puzzle genre with the game's niche, spawning similar copycats that we've seen with other huge franchises like Doom and more recently, FNAF. I feel like she'd be a terry/hero type of fighter's pass with the whole semi-niche game largely popular in a singular region, and Microsoft got multiple reps so Joker "stealing" the Sega slot doesn't apply (and I've always felt he got in moreso because of Atlus than Sega). Puyo's also been gaining ground worldwide since the beginning of smash's development and it seems Sega is really trying to push it to that audience now. Not that that's indicative of anything, but I'm surprised how many people are jumping straight to the Sakura bandwagon when her issues at similar but at a larger level.

 

[Verde Coeden Scalesworth]

I am somewhat concerned if Fortnite does get in, because it would mean that 5/8 Fighter Pass characters would have debuted in the 2010s, including all of FP2 at that point (I count Steve as a 2010s character because All-Star Mode lists him as debuting in 2011, the year the 1.0 version of Minecraft was released). It would also mean that we would get four 2010s characters in a row, with the last character so far debuting earlier than 2010 being Terry Bogard.

Though regardless, Steve's actual creation is before 2010. He isn't actually named outright till after 2010. Which is why the literal character as he's defined as Steve counts under 2010 a bit more properly. Not just the 1.0 release alone. I agree with Sakurai's listing, since that's the first "proper" game release. Betas shouldn't really count as a game release. It hasn't gone gold, which is the official release of a game. Regardless of Steve being before 2010, anyway, in his debut.

I don't see anything worth being concerned over. Old and new are all important aspects of gaming as is. I'm not even sure what the real concern is here. Could you be a lot more clear on what the problem is? That you simply don't like it being mostly "new" characters?